The reality of women's political participation in Iran

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the reality of women’s political participation in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the extent of political participation enjoyed by Iranian women within state institutions, particularly their participation in presidential elections and the Islamic Consultative Assembly. The study analyzed the obstacles and challenges facing Iranian women that negatively affect their political participation. The researcher employed the descriptive approach. The study reached a number of findings, most notably that early changes occurred in favor of women during the Shah’s era, which can be attributed to Iran’s integration into global capitalism and the modernization processes experienced by Iranian society. However, these processes were uneven, and the positive developments that had taken place were eroded by contradictory government policies. Iranian women also played an important role in the success of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and in the rise of the reformist current, which opposed the conservative current and the Supreme Leader, to power due to its support for women’s issues. The dominance of conservative jurisprudential discourse in Iran’s current political climate also plays an important role in opposing women’s presence in the political sphere.