Iran: Lawmakers would equalize divorce laws

Off Our Backs, Nov/Dec 2002

TEHRAN-The Iranian parliament has passed a bill that would grant a woman the right to seek a divorce in the same way that a man can. Women have not had such a right since the Islamic fundamentalists took power in 1979.

There's a catch-this, like all bills, needs the approval of the Guardian Council, a group of fundamentalists who will never approve it. However, the fact that legislators want to change the law is a start.

The code adopted after the fundamentalists took power says, "a man can divorce his wife whenever he wishes."

The bill would remove that provision and instead specify that both women and men could seek divorces, and that both would have to have grounds such as addiction, mental illness, or violent behavior.

-info from New York Times, 8/26