Women’s Rights in Iran Claire Cowan Jackie Bolan and Jacob Balderas

Are Woman there really treated that badly? The answer to that question that many of us seem to ask ourselves is, yes. Women have absolutely no rights in Iran and are basically treated like animals. They are looked down on as worthless and dumb.

Marriage Policy Women get married between about ages now all the girls in here are 13 or 14 already, imagine being married by now. Women in Iran have to be married, it’s not there choice. Although they do mostly get to choose who it is, still would you want to have to be married by now? They should have their whole lives in front of them instead it is cut short. It doesn’t leave much time for being a kid or education now does it?

Education Although many women do have an education, the government basically says look how grateful they should be we give them an education. Isn’t this something that everyone deserves? Even the women who go to college are still looked as a lot dumber then men who do not.

Employment A large amount of women do hold jobs in Iran but this is the same as the education. They have to have jobs that the men do not want, and even if the men are not as qualified or good at the job they get moved up higher then the women.

Punishments In Iran women can be very cruelly punished for things they do not deserve to be punished that severely for. Some of the punishments like stoning, beatings, and sexual assault. In Iran they say that if the women do it they deserve the punishment. Everyone makes mistakes and is it fair to be punished in death for it? They also say that the women break there rules a lot more then men. Well how could they not? considering the rules are so much harder on them. Women are more likely to admit to something they didn’t do because the government will punish them anyways.

Dress Code Women are forced to follow the Hijab which is a very strict dress code, forcing them too cover there whole body except for face and hands. Women who don’t follow this are punished with the punishments as we just talked about. Why should women dress the way there government thinks they should, not the way they want too? There was a fire in Iran in a business building this year, and the firemen would not save at least 8 women because they were not properly dressed. They died in that fire.

Protesting Many people who have tried to protest against the government have been killed, including women’s rights activists. Websites encouraging women’s rights there have been blocked and anyone having anything to do with them have been cruelly punished.

Why should WE care? Many people seem to turn away from this problem. We say things like it’s not our country or it’s over exaggerated. So why should we care? My question is how could we not? There are women dying for something as simple as how they dress, or adultery when the men are allowed to have more then one wife? These women do not deserve this they are as equal as any man and can do anything the men do.

How can we help? Our country needs to stand together and go against this. We are a powerful nation and we need to fight for this more, not just for Iran but many Middle Eastern countries. This is something that people need to be more aware of. Well how can a Yorktown Middle School class do something a big as this? Well all it takes is one group or even one voice standing against something. People will see if kids our age care they can too.