Recommendations

To the Iranian Parliament:

1. Immediately halt any further consideration of the Plan to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice and permanently withdraw the bill.

2. Modify all other pending legislation related to women’s employment, higher education, and family planning to ensure that they do not discriminate against women in any manner and that they conform to Iran’s international obligations regarding the rights of women.

3. Engage with women’s organizations and civil society activists in the modification of this legislation, ensuring that the laws incorporate the demands raised by women rights advocates.

4. Investigate all practices and actions conducted by other institutions such as the police and Basij that have unlawfully violated women’s rights and increased the risk of violence against women.

To the Iranian Judiciary and law enforcement agencies:

1. Aggressively pursue the identification and apprehension of the perpetrators of the acid attacks in a transparent manner and regularly update the public on the status of the investigations.

2. Forcefully prosecute any perpetrators charged to the full extent of the law, sending a clear message that such attacks will not be tolerated.

3. Decriminalize media reporting on the acid attacks, and lift all restrictions on the independent reporting and investigation of incidents of violence against women, allowing an environment in which such issues are freely and publicly discussed.

To the Rouhani administration:

1. Use the full authority of the administration to counter the rise of violence against women by holding all arms of government accountable, and publicly denouncing and challenging the policies, legislation, and official pronouncements that have created fertile ground for such violence.

2. Use the president’s authority over the Ministry of Interior, which controls the national police force, to ensure the public security and safety of women, ensure that the public is regularly updated on the status of the investigations into the acid attacks, ensure that the investigations are conducted in a transparent manner, and provide a safe environment for reporters to independently and freely investigate such attacks.

3. Empower and engage women’s rights and civil society groups in the formulation of policies affecting women, and support and facilitate the activities and programs conducted or initiated by Iranian civil society and women’s rights organizations that are focused on the elimination of violence against women in society.

4. Use the president’s authority over the Ministry of Science to end all gender-based quotas and admission policies in higher education.

To the international community:

1. Communicate to the Government of Iran that Iran’s full international rehabilitation and reintegration will be contingent upon Iran’s respect for its international obligations regarding women’s rights.

2. Communicate to the Government of Iran that Iran, as a member of the Commission on the Status of Women, should immediately and without reservation ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

3. Call on the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women to open an inquiry into the rise of violence against women in Iran.

4. Countries that engage in bilateral human rights dialogue with Iran, such as Brazil, Denmark, Japan and Switzerland, should put special focus in their dialogue with Iran on women’s rights issues, and express direct concern to the Government of Iran regarding pending Parliamentary legislation and policies that adversely affect the safety of women.
5. The UN Human Rights Council (HRC) should renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran in order to ensure a continuous mechanism to monitor and report on women’s rights in Iran.