Women's empowerment in Iran: a review based on the related legislations

Women's empowerment can be defined as a change in the circumstances of a woman's life, which enables her to raise her capacity to manage more enriched and rewarding life. Improvement in women's empowerment is a salient issue to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. National laws are influential factors in promoting women's empowerment. Lack of awareness of legal and constitutional provisions and failure to recognize it, is a factor that hinders the process of empowerment. This paper provides a review based on Iranian legislations which have considered various aspects of women's empowerment. Although this work has specifically dealt with women's needs, it encompasses a right-based approach to women's empowerment suggested by the United Nations Fund for Population Activities. However, there is still a great need for further inquiries in the area of legislations concerning women's empowerment around the world in general and Iran in particular.