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Global gender gaps: Putting Iran's protests in context

Global gender gaps: Putting Iran's protests in context

David Crowther

Disbanded?

‍The Iranian attorney general announced yesterday that the country’s controversial morality police force has been ‘shut down’. The announcement, as yet unconfirmed by the Iranian Interior Ministry, comes amidst two months of nation-wide protests after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in police custody in September. Ms Amini was detained by the morality police for wearing her hijab improperly.

Amini’s death has been described as Iran’s ‘George Floyd moment’, with protests raging across the nation and arrest figures reportedly reaching close to 20,000. Some Iranians have used the Qatar World Cup to amplify the voices of those back home, with fans demonstrating in the crowd and players refusing to sing the national anthem in their opening game in a reported nod of solidarity.

In July, Iran ranked 143rd of 146 nations on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, an index that scores countries across key indicators such as economic participation, political empowerment, educational attainment and more.

Iran's scores highlight how deep-rooted some of the issues raised by Amini’s death and subsequent protests are. Indeed, the nation was only ahead of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, where respect for women has reportedly dropped to a record low under Taliban rule.

The abolishment of the morality police, if confirmed, would be by far the biggest concession made to protesters since demonstrations began.

‍Go Deeper: The US came 27th on the Gender Gap Report — explore the data here or read the full report.

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