Azerbaijani People - Women

Women

In Azerbaijan, women were granted the right to vote in 1919. Women have attained Western-style equality in major cities such as Baku, although in rural areas more traditional views remain. Violence against women, including rape, is rarely reported, especially in rural areas, not unlike other parts of the former Soviet Union. In Azerbaijan, the veil was abandoned during the Soviet period. Women are under-represented in elective office but have attained high positions in parliament. An Azeri woman is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Azerbaijan, and two others are Justices of the Constitutional Court. In the 2010 election, women constituted 16% of all MPs (twenty seats in total) in the National Assembly of Azerbaijan. Abortion is available on demand in the Republic of Azerbaijan. The human rights ombudsman since 2002, Elmira Suleymanova, is a woman.

In Iran, a groundswell of grassroots movements have sought gender equality since the 1980s. Protests in defiance of government bans are dispersed through violence, as on 12 June 2006 when female demonstrators in Haft Tir Square in Tehran were beaten. Past Iranian leaders, such as Mohammad Khatami, promised women greater rights, but the government has opposed changes that they interpret as contrary to Islamic doctrine. In the 2004 legislative elections, nine women were elected to parliament (Majlis), eight of whom were conservatives. The social fate of Azeri women largely mirrors that of other women in Iran.