It was on January 14, 2021, that the bill banning violence against women reached parliament; The bill, which was submitted to the Islamic Consultative Assembly 90 days ago after about 10 years, is still pending consideration.

ایجاد شده در تاریخ: شنبه 04 اردیبهشت 1400 - 14:09
آخرین ویرایش:چهارشنبه 01 اردیبهشت 1400 - 14:11

The bill banning violence against women was key in the 10th administration and now in the final months of the 12th administration, is awaiting consideration in the 11th parliament. The story began in 2020; Due to legal loopholes and available statistics on violence against women, the Vice Presidency for Women and Family Affairs proposed and drafted a bill to ensure women's security against violence. With the coming to power of the 11th government in August 2013, the Vice Presidency for Women and Family Affairs again put the bill on its agenda. Investigations and debates continued until in May 2017, the government reviewed the bill in the Bills Commission and it was decided to send the bill to the judiciary.

During these rounds, changes were made to the text of the bill, and new penalties were added. It is needed to mention that the judiciary also changed the name of the bill to "protection, dignity, and security of women against violence". Over the past three years, changes to the bill, the need for follow-up expert discussions, and its repeated referral to specialized and subcommittee committees have led to a longer-than-expected final review.

The Parliament announced, "We have been waiting for the backup document."

Following the murder of Romina Ashrafi, the 11-year-old girl from Talesh, who was killed by her father in May 2020, the President issued an immediate order to consider the bill; Finally, about eight months later, on January 14, 2021, Hossein Ali Amiri, Parliamentary Vice President, announced the submission of a bill to protect the dignity and protection of women against violence in parliament.

However, 90 days after the bill was submitted to the Islamic Consultative Assembly, it still does not seem to be a priority for the member of the parliament. To the extent that on April 10, Dr. Masoumeh Ebtekar, Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, regrets the delay in the parliament's consideration of the bill and asked for its acknowledgment.

Member of the Women's Faction said, "I am not aware of the bill's generality!

Although the head of the women's faction of the parliament announced the start of the consideration of this bill in her respective faction, Fatemeh Maghsoudi, the first secretary of this faction, in a conversation with Hamshahri, announced that the bill has not been considered for the past 90 days to the extent that she is even unaware of the generalities of this bill and tells Hamshahri, "So far, there has been no discussion in this regard in the women's faction."

This member of the women's faction believes that the concern of the Vice Presidency for Women is that to achieve good results regarding this by the end of the 12th administration, while Hassan Rouhani's administration has not yet taken effective action in the field of women. She also added, "So far, we have not seen enough attention at women in the Rouhani's administration that is satisfactory for us. What did Mr. Rouhani do for women during his presidency, so that now they would insist on completing their actions in the remaining 6 months? What did the budget bill that we submitted say about women and economic support for women?"

Three months after the government sent the bill on women's security against violence to the parliament, it seems that in practice, significant actions and follow-ups have been taken in this regard by the women's faction of the parliament. And, of course, there are certain inconsistencies in their statements in this regard. A story that has caused concern among some activists in the field of women, and in their opinion, with the end of the twelfth administration, the possibility of postponing the consideration of this bill in the Islamic Consultative Assembly will not be far from the mind.

Source: Hamshahri