Iran may ban single women from leaving the country without prior consent of a guardian if a new bill secures enough votes in parliament.
Currently unmarried women and men above the age of 18 can leave the country if they have a passport but under a new proposed bill single women will need permission from their guardian.
“According to this bill… married women of any age need the written consent of their husband to be able to have a passport and single women above the age of 18 will need the permission of their guardian,” Hossein Naghavi-Hosseini, the speaker of the parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, said in comments published on Isna news agency.
Married women in Iran have required their husbands’ permission to hold a passport since prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution and will continue to do so under the proposed bill.
If passed, the bill will be seen as a major setback for women’s rights campaigners in the country.
Authorities in Saudi Arabia came under fire in November after a prominent women’s rights activist accused the Gulf state of introducing an electronic system that alerts men when women under their custody leave the country, even if they are travelling together.
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