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The following paper, is an overview of the current statistical
picture of domestic violence experienced by both single and married women
within Iranian society. Although numerous independent studies on domestic
violence against women and children have been conducted on small scales in
Iran, they have never been widely published or utilized due to political
issues. The discussion in this
paper are directly derived from the only widely accredited research carried out
on a massive scale, supported and funded by the Iranian government in order to
tackle the issue of domestic abuse.
Since the study is currently only available
in Farsi, this paper is in part an attempt to
make the information available to
a wider audience. Furthermore, it attempts to look for underlying etiology to
better understand the crisis women face within the complex geopolitical,
economical, religious, ethnic, and social arena, which makes up modern day Iran.
As cited in the 2006 report of the U.N.
Secretary General on UNIFEM's site, "violence against
women and girls is a problem of pandemic proportions. At least one out of every
three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise
abused in her lifetime with the
abuser usually someone known to her." Iranian society, held up by its women, is
being crippled through their suffering.
Domestic Violence against Single and Married Women in Iranian Society,
An Overview of Current Iranian
Research and Possible Underlying Etiology
Definition: The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
begins their fact sheets with the following words: "the willful intimidation,
physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior
perpetrated by an intimate partner against another. It is an epidemic affecting
individuals in every community, regardless of age, economic status, race,
religion, nationality or educational background.
Violence against women is
often accompanied by emotionally abusive and controlling behavior, and thus is
part of a systematic pattern of dominance and control. Domestic violence
results in physical injury, psychological trauma, and sometimes death. The
consequences of domestic violence can cross generations and truly last a
lifetime." Following this statement, the organization provides harrowing
statistics about women who suffer from domestic violence nationally and the
adverse effect of the children who witness this violence. For the most part, it
is safe to argue, that culturally, it is not acceptable to engage in violence
towards women openly. Physical assault is punishable by law and also has its social
consequences of shaming; although, many liberal and democratic societies still
struggle with the double standards and lack of gender equality. Those deeply
rooted inequalities can account for the high numbers of domestic abuse within
such societies as the United States and even European nations.
Background: In Iranian society domestic violence takes on an
entirely different shape. Women are not only subject to harsh treatments by an
authoritative state, which rules on every aspects of their public lives, but it
also provides the arena and encourages the control of their private lives. The
government does so by promoting fundamentalist ideas of women as properties of
me. It does so by setting up an unequal legal system and not punishing assault
even when it has resulted in severe injury or at times even death. The
conversation of domestic violence then cannot be simply domestic but begins to
take the shape of a systematic violence, fueled by tradition, ignited by
religion, encouraged by the dominant authoritarian state, and empowered by
poverty and illiteracy.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has always
denied the existence of domestic abuse, violence towards women and children in
the family as a sociological issue within Iranian society. Most of the violence
in the family is deeply tied to the societal and governmental laws of
inequality towards women. Most violence towards women even has governmental
sanctions, such as flogging or imprisonment, and even in some cases death for
adultery. If the regime accepted domestic abuse as a problem, it had to also
address the way it enables, allows, encourages, and ignores, violence towards
women.
Human rights organizations,
political/humanitarian oppositional groups and advocacy groups for women were
the only voices that acknowledged the existence of this widespread phenomenal
in Iran and fought for changes in law and education within communities.
Due to the large percentage of
women in higher education, and the Universities in Iran, in the past 15 years
the numbers of Masters' and PH.D thesis on women's issues have been
overwhelming. Universities are now even discouraging students from researching
on the topic of women's issues, due to the fact that the findings are not
implemented into improvements or societal progress. The papers simply sit in
libraries and collect dust, which can be very discouraging.
Up until recently, there was no
official statistical data on how many women suffered from domestic violence in
Iran and what shape or form it was in. The common law dictated that what
happens in the house has to stay in the house. A man's household affairs very
much belongs to him and other's can not meddle in his private issues,
especially regarding how he treats his wife and children. The way to continue
keeping his privacy is through the silencing of the voice of dissent: women.
This policy very much resembles how the Islamic Republic deals with political
unrest in Iran and International outrage. We often hear that the West should
not interfere or have an opinion with the way Iran deals with its people.
The Census Bauru in Iran, which is
an official government agency has never conducted a study on domestic violence
and has not allowed international organizations to do so either; however, in
2004 The Women's Center for Presidential Advisory, The Interior Ministry, and
The Ministry of Higher Education decided to undertake a project in Iran's 28
provinces, regarding domestic violence in Iran. A 32 volume study was concluded
after several years. These volumes include findings regarding violence towards
women and children, family issues, divorce, and marriages, remarriages, the
statues and effect of education and work on violence in the capital cities of
each province. Only the main cities were visited and the research was conducted
based on questionnaires.
These 32 volume findings are not
widely available for public viewing; however, it is available to scholars and
researchers as a reference at the Center for Research in Tehran. The
information has also been shared with government agencies and lawmakers in the
hopes of changing family laws.
Much discussion and controversy has
surrounded the study, including the bias of the researchers themselves in their
findings. This massive study was led by Iran's renowned sociologist Dr. Ghazi
Tabatabaei, who is still a professor in Tehran universities. Many other
well-known researchers/ scholars, sociologists, psychologists, and
professionals in other areas participated and contributed in this study.
A brief summery of some of the
findings:
Due to the fact that Iran is a
multi ethnic/ multi cultural country and is very diverse, the findings of the
study show that the results from each province differ from each other very
much. The study clearly shows a correlation between violence against women and
living in provinces further away from the capital; which could be explained
from many angles including economically, sub-cultures of the region, dominance
of religion, and lack of higher education.
The research had 9 main
categories and 45 subcategories.
The 9 categories include:
1.
Verbal Abuse
2.
Physical Abuse
3.
Emotional Abuse
4.
Economical Abuse (refusing her right to have a job,
restricting her opportunities, taking her income, restricting allowance, etc.)
5.
Legal Abuse (a husband has a legal right in Iran to take his
wife's full rights away, by restricting her from traveling, going out of the
house, etc.)
6.
Educational Abuse (restricting the right to go to school)
7.
Neglect (restricting food, not feeding/adequately providing
for a family)
8.
Sexual abuse (unwanted sexual activity within a marital
relationship, including rape, forced pregnancy, forced abortions, restricting
wife's access to healthcare and birth-control, extra-marital affairs)
9.
Honor killings and Murder
Based on the study 66% married
women in Iran are subjected to some kind of domestic violence in the first year
of their marriage, either by their husbands or by their in-laws.
All married
women who were participants in this study in Iran have experienced 7.4% of the
9 categories of abuse.
5.23% of
married women in the study reported having experienced near death violence or
feared for their lives due to domestic violence.
8.37% of
married women in the study reported having experienced severe physical abuse.
7.27% of
married women in the study reported having experienced educational and career
restrictions.
2.10% of
married women in the study reported having experienced sexual abuse; however,
this number could be severely under reported due to the taboo surrounding the
topic.
From these
2.10% who reported sexual abuse, 5.2% reported having a miscarriage due to
severe beatings by her husband.
52% of
married women in the study reported having experienced emotional abuse.
9.63% of
women in the study reported wishing their husbands would die, as a result of
the abuse they have experienced.
The study shows a direct
correlation between women who have a higher education and are career women and
experiencing a lower level of domestic violence.
The study also shows that the higher
the number of children in a family, the more likely domestic violence will
occur towards the woman.
The chief of police in Iran stated
that 40% of all murders in Iran happen due to domestic violence and that 50% of
all women who are murdered are done so by someone in their immediate family and
mostly in the very home of that woman.
More often than not, defenders of
men who have killed their wives bring up that the husband was suspicious of
adultery. The law is very lenient and is ready to forgive men while punishing
women.
The discriminatory laws in Iran may
yet claim another victim to be executed by stoning to death for the "crime" of
adultery. There are 8 cases in Iran on the brink of death through stoning
anytime soon and one such case is that of a woman named Kobra Najjar a victim
of domestic violence, for 12 years was beaten repeatedly and forced into
prostitution by her husband to support his heroin addiction.
Kobra Najjar found herself in prison when Habib, a "client" of Kobra seeing her
sorry plight decided to murder her husband. Habib was sentenced to death by the
Tabriz High Court for the murder together with Kobra Najjar as an accomplice.
What makes this case unusual and deranged is that it shows the disparity and
unequal treatment of women under a penal system favoring men over women.
Serving eight years for the murder and 100 lashes for fornication Habib was
released upon paying compensation to the victims' heirs. In contrast Kobra
Najjar who has also served eight years remains in prison her fate uncertain as
she faces the prospect of being stoned to death anytime for adultery. Now how
sick is that, forced into prostitution but under Iranian's Discriminatory laws
against women she is guilty of adultery even though she was systematically
subjected to violence to force her into submission for prostitution.
In Iran's perverted justice system under Article 83 of the Iranian Penal Code,
a married person is committing adultery when they have sexual intercourse with
anyone other than their spouse. Adultery is the only crime where women is
sentenced to stoning and all sexual intercourse outside of marriage is illegal
that can result in flogging, or hanging for the forth offense. Now how
perverted is that?
Kobra Najjar under constant beatings was forced into prostitution clearly did
not have any choice or say on the matter was definitely a victim. She is seen
under the cross eyed Iranian sadistic judge who obviously sees only the sexual
intercourse but not the circumstance of one who was victimized. It does not
matter whether she was forced through coercion and violence she is an adulterer
therefore deserve to die the most painful savage medieval death by stoning.
In Iran a 13 year old girl is old enough to legally marry and considered as an
adult at age 8 years and 9 months, old enough to be sentenced to stoning,
flogging and hanging for adultery and fornication. Iranian gender biased law
favors men where pedophiles are likely to prevail over the girls and women they
victimized facing the risk of being convicted should they go to courts.
Women
and girls face insurmountable obstacle in getting a divorce, forced to stay
even if she was in an abusive marriage and most likely lose custody of her
children above age 7 to her husband and the children's paternal grandfather. In
contrast men can marry up to 4 girls and woman and can divorce them at will.
The rules of evidence make it extremely difficult for women to prove their case
in court should the wife decides to file a case of domestic violence her
testimony is only worth half of a man's testimony. Rape is even more impossible
if not incredulous under Iranian rules of evidence; her testimony as if half
its worth of a man is not bad enough has to be corroborated by men in order to
prove her claims. Under this scenario a rape victim is at the mercy of her
rapist and most likely end up getting sentenced for adultery, now that is truly
disgusting.
References
in Farsi
جانشین معاونت ناجا:آمار قتلهاي خانوادگي در
ايران روبهافزايش است -. (n.d.). In مجله زنان. Retrieved August 01, 2009, from http://www.zanan.co.ir/spip.php?article1021
وضعيت خشونت در خانواده در ايران. (n.d.). In
وضعيت خشونت در خانواده در ايران. Retrieved August 1, 2009, from http://www.pezeshk.us/?p=2900
داوری, �.,
& سلیمی،, �. (1386). جامعهشناسی
کجروی. تهران: انتشارات حوزه و دانشگاه.
خشونت مرگبار خانوادگی |. (n.d.). In انجمن
جامعهشناسی ایران. Retrieved August 01, 2009, from http://www.isa.org.ir/node/1709
References
in English
Afifi,
T. O., Enns, M. W., Cox, B. J., Stein, M. B., Jitender, S., & Asmundson, G.
J. (2008). Population attributable fractions of psychiatric disorders and
suicide ideation and attempts associated with adverse childhood experiences.
Population attributable fractions of psychiatric disorders and suicide ideation
and attempts associated with adverse childhood experiences., 98(5), 946-952.
Retrieved May 11, 2008, from PsycINFO.
DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE FACTS. (2007, July). In National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Retrieved July 28, 2009, from http://www.ncadv.org
Facts
& Figures on Violence Against Women - Say No to Violence against Women.
(2007, November). In UNIFEM - United Nations Development Fund for Women.
Retrieved July 28, 2009, from
http://www.unifem.org/campaigns/vaw/facts_figures.php
Renner,
L. M., & Markward, M. J. (2009). Factors Associated with Suicidal Ideation
Among Women Abused in Intimate. Factors Associated with Suicidal Ideation Among
Women Abused in Intimate, 79(2), 139-154. Retrieved April, 2009, from
[EBSCOHost].
A
Safe Place: domestic violence shelter, counseling, and help programs. (n.d.).
Retrieved August 01, 2009, from http://www.asafeplaceforhelp.org
World:
Violence Against Women -- In Iran, Abuse Is Part Of The Culture. (n.d.). In
Payvand, Iran News, Directory and Bazar. Retrieved August 01, 2009, from http://www.payvand.com/news/03/nov/1159.html
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by
Shepesh on
Wed Nov 25, 2009 01:15 AM PST
Thank you for this article
by
Shepesh on
Thu Sep 10, 2009 09:24 AM PDT
مطلب را به بالاترین بفرستید: 
+ ده توانن ئه م رادوي ه گوي به ده ن تكايه له سه ر وينه ي رادوي كه كليك كه ن
+ براي شنيدن برنامه هاي راديو روي تصوير راديو كليك كنيد
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Cost of progress
by javaneh29 on Sat Sep 12, 2009 10:11 AM PDTNo one here is defending Islam. How can we. The issue is about domestic violence , unless your reading something Im not and DV is universal. That is all we are saying. And I think we agree that Islam cultivates and even advocates violence to women.
However let me ask you this : imagine if you can, that you are an Iranian woman. Choose your age, where you live, but lets say you are married to a man who beats you. Lets agree that you have 1 or more children. What would you do ? where would you go ? What protest would you make? And ask yourself this .... what would be your expectation from having made that protest/ complaint and keep it real. Then tell me that it is still easy for a woman in Iran to stand up to DV.
And btw why is it only a very small number of men in Iran defend womens rights to a life without DV? What do you do ?
Javaneh