Single Iranian women under 40 need fathers’ consent for passports

Shahrzad News, November 20, 2012

Under current law, anyone under 18 must have written consent from his or her father or male guardian, signed by a notary, to obtain a passport. A married woman of any age needs either a letter from her husband or a character reference from her local Imam.
Shahrzad News: Sexual and social discrimination against Iranian women took a new turn recently when parliament’s National Security Committee introduced a bill obliging every unmarried woman under 40 to obtain her father’s consent when applying for a passport.

Under current law, anyone under 18 must have written consent from his or her father or male guardian, signed by a notary, to obtain a passport. A married woman of any age needs either a letter from her husband or a character reference from her local Imam.

An amendment to the law states that “legislation regarding the issuing of passports is dependent on the political situation.”

With the new passport bill, the Iranian regime’s gender-discrimination policies have reached new heights. Iran is getting more and more like Saudi Arabia, where open sexual apartheid is the norm. In that country, a woman may only travel when accompanied by her husband or a male relative.

Earlier it was announced that Iranian women who fail to comply with hejab – the strict Islamic dress code – thereby relinquish their right to a passport.