Women In Iran: Past, Present And Future

The situation in Iran, as at early March 2026, is dangerously volatile.  Yet to many the complexities of Iranian governance, and the perspectives which underpin it, remain largely a mystery.  For that reason I have for some months been researching this essay on ‘Women in Iran’, better to understand the perspectives which have given rise to the hard-line patriarchal order of the current autocratic theocracy. Particularly, I wanted to grasp more fully the differences in understandings between ‘modern’ educated women (and men) in Iran, and their traditionally religious peers.

In my essay here, Women In Iran: Past, Present And Future, I consider some ways patriarchy is experienced by women and girls in the authoritarian theocracy (bluntly, despotic totalitarianism) of Iran, where power is rooted in severe economic control and, at times, brute force.

Specifically examined, through the lens of human rights, are issues around governance, demography and pro-natalism, employment, forms of marriage, children, social control via the hijab and gender-based violence, education, science, health and judicial processes.  We consider also the increasing resistance to the constraints under which they are placed – evidenced (at whatever the cost) by the rallying cry ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ – of some, particularly, educated younger women. The especially perilous fate of Afghan migrant women and children in Iran is also discussed.

It is important to acknowledge however that the responses of Iranian citizens, female or male, to this authoritarian theocracy (despotic totalitarianism) are various – as indeed are the political, governance, legal, belief system and traditional factors which underpin the complexities to hand.  There is little consensus between different groups in Iran about how the situation came about or how a future peaceable resolution acceptable to the majority might be achieved.

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I completed this essay on International Women’s Day.  My original intention had been to submit it for publication in an academic journal, but (given the extended period required for academic publishing) time for that is now not on our side.  I therefore offer it, fully, formally referenced, and carefully advised by Iranian colleagues to whom I owe much thanks, to anyone who would like to know something more about the complex situation in which women and men in Iran now find themselves.  Your thoughts are also very welcome, in the Comments box at the bottom of this post, below.

Please click this link to read the essay, Women In Iran: Past, Present And Future

See also A Report to CSW70: Gender-Based Discrimination Under Iranian Law: Structural Inequality and State-Sanctioned Oppression of Women (8 March 2026)

and    Afghan Women In Peril.

You can read this website (and the essay itself) in the language of your choice via Google Translate.