Progress Amid Resistance

IRAN 139dominance” to a foreigner. Similarly, women have the legal right to independentuse of their income and assets. However, many women face defacto discrimination or restrictions due to the normative male control overthe material affairs and income of the family. For instance, women’s morelimited access to spatial mobility, travel, and trade due to sex segregationconstrains their ability to enter into business or put their own land andproperty to economic use.The civil code’s inheritance laws contain many gender-based in equalities,reflecting the traditional duty of men to support the female members ofhis family. When a couple is childless, a widow may inherit one-quarterof her deceased husband’s estate, while a widower may inherit one-half ofhis deceased wife’s estate, with the remainder going to other beneficiaries.If they have children, the widow is entitled to one-eighth and a widowerto one-quarter of the deceased spouse’s assets. 57 Article 907 mandatesthat, upon the death of a parent who leaves no surviving mother orfather, daughters inherit half the share of their brothers. Small improvementshave been made to women’s inheritance rights in recent years.As of February 2009, women may inherit immovable property, such asland, from their deceased husbands, whereas previously their inheritancewas limited to moveable property. Also as of 2009, insurance companiesare obligated to pay equal compensation (diyeh) for the death of awoman and a man.Women are not always able to exercise the limited inheritance rightsthey have under the law. Cultural norms encourage women to forgo theirinheritance, either to keep property within the family or so that male kincontrol the selling and division of the inherited assets.Women’s right to education and to enter into business contracts andactivities are limited more by traditional societal attitudes than legal barriers.A husband can legally prevent his wife from working outside thehome only if he can prove to the court that her occupation is incompatiblewith the reputation and well-being of the family. 58 The requirementthat a married woman lives in her husband’s residence can alsoaffect her options for employment. While the wife and family membersare expected to move to wherever the husband finds employment,the same is usually not expected when it comes to the wife’s career. Forexample, according to Article 32 of the army law, women can be hiredinto the army and security forces only to fill certain positions, such asthose related to health care or female prisons, and the work sites of such