These days Iran is so embroiled in such economic and unjust conditions that it is difficult to even begin to priorities its social crises. Among these problems, poverty among women is one of the most serious ones. So searching for a solution to women’s poverty is a priority. The problem has very specific specifications which if not addressed will only exacerbate the problem sot he point that Iran will be an example among Muslim countries where prostitution becomes the only way a group of women can meet their needs and life. The country’s female population for different reasons occupies only a small percentage of the national labor market.
But Iran is a wealthy country. Still it would not be an exaggeration to say that as oil income enlarges, proportionately poverty becomes more entrenched. Women’s poverty has many facets. Sometimes women resort to prostitution because of their love for their children and the need to provide for them. This state of affairs exists partly because a large number of men are unemployed and stay at home, which has been caused by mismanagement on the part of the government. The wives of such unemployed men have only one way to bring money to the household, which leads to their arrest, detention, and flogging. Their release does not guarantee a different approach to the problem only leading to a repetition of the same.
The solution of this problem lies with the government and in this regard the performance and record of the administration must be reviewed. One should look at the budget plans of the last three decades that governments have taken to the Majlis for approval. Relative to the increased oil revenues, the proportion of funds that are allocated to fight poverty among women is insignificant. At times efforts have been made to hide this poverty by advocating and promoting temporary marriages. At other times, prostitution is given a pseudo-legal status with the same goal. But we know that such measures do not address the problem in any way. Now there are even efforts to negate the necessity of an official document for temporary marriages. This will only increase prostitution under the guise of a hand-written document.
In the discussion over the responsibilities of the government, one question that should be asked is what funds has it allocated for creating jobs for women and filling up their free time. And in view of the size of the female population of the country, is the budget sufficient so women can see professional training, provide work opportunities, engage in sporting activities, learn how to use a compute, read books, etc, so that they can have a respectable life. If the answer to this question is negative then one may attribute the dire straits of women and the growing number of abandoned children roaming the streets of towns to government mismanagement. When women lack the opportunities and programs to learn professional skills, and when the law stresses that women must be economically dependant on their spouses, what is a woman who looses her husband, or a husband who looses his job, or becomes an addict and is imprisoned supposed to do? And what about women who do not marry in the first place? What is the fate of such women who do not have a marketable skill, particularly if they are raising children?
The face of poor women is more heartbreaking than this. The institutions, agencies and individuals who are the causes of this state of affairs and the officials who are responsible for the growth in prostitution are the leading culprits of this situation. They have clearly lost the public trust, the qualifications and the legitimacy to stay in power.
