The Rights of a Married Woman in Iran

Divorce Iranian Style is a documentary that takes place in Iranian courthouse and shows the different situations that occur for couples trying to get a divorce. It brings up a lot of issues that most people in the West don’t consider when trying to get a divorce. Personal Status laws are a huge aspect of marriage and divorce in Iran. The judge told one woman whose husband was trying to divorce her that she needed to “make herself pretty at home” if she wanted to divorce to go through. Marriage contracts are also of the utmost importance when trying to make a case for divorce.

One of the women wanted a divorce from her husband and cited both an age difference that was discovered to be incompatible and that her husband wasn’t allowing her to study as was specified in their marriage contract as her reasons. However, as Sonbol states “Men and not women have the absolute right to abrogate a marriage at will.” It is also stated, though, that there are certain assumptions not included in a marriage contract that are socially and legally recognized, that the responsibility of a husband to financially support his wife. There is contention though over what is included in this financial support. Would the woman’s husband have to pay for her schooling that is in the contract? Either way she cannot divorce him without his consent, which in the documentary he is not willing to give.

The documentary also shows a woman who is losing custody of her children because she had gotten remarried. This is a strange phenomenon to me because in the United States courts have a tendency to side with the mother in custody battles. This mother also pointed out that her child’s grades were dropping when she was with her father. The judge commented on this but still the woman was not granted custody. I don’t agree with how custody is tied to marriage in this way. While I understand that the male-female dynamic in Iran is very much favoring the men, the children should never suffer. I think the issue of custody should be looked at as a completely separate entity and take the children’s lives, wants, needs and well being into account, not just the marriage and remarriage of the parents.