Mr, Mousavi has promised that if elected, he will review Iran's laws which discriminate against women, address issues of women's rights and appoint women to high positions in his administration. Understandably, women and progressive young people form the bulk of his supporters.
The Iranian law at that time favoured men. The constitution, adopted in 1979, following the revolution that overthrew Shaw Reza Pahlavi, mandated that Sharia Law, the Islamic moral code based on the Koran, be enforced in Iranian society. Under Sharia Law:
* Girls can be forced to marry at age 13. They cannot choose their husband or their residence.
* Men can divorce their wives whenever they wish, by pronouncing three times, "I divorce you."
* Men can ban their wives from working or travelling.
* Men can engage in polygamy, and have up to four permanent wives. They may also take any number of temporary wives.
* In the case of divorce, the husband automatically gets custody of children older than 7.
* Females may inherit only half as much as their brothers from their parents.
* In court, women's testimony is only half as valuable as that of a man.
* Women convicted of adultery are stoned, often resulting in their death.
* A woman who refuses to cover her hair in public faces a jail term and a beating of up to 80 lashes.
* Women can only be treated by female doctors and nurses. Many husbands would rather see a wife die in labour than receive treatment from a male doctor.
However, the winds of change had begun to blow through the conservative Muslim theocracy. Women were becoming increasingly determined to achieve equal status with men and steps towards the goal, albeit small and tentative, had already been noted.
Some young women are taking advantage of education as a means to gain more respect and freedom. Female students formed 65 percent of classes in Iranian universities.
Although they must cover their hair, women do not have to cover their faces. Plastic surgeons were doing a bustling business with rhinoplasties - nose jobs.
Satellite television and the Internet allow Iranian women to glimpse the lifestyles of their sisters in the West. They liked what they saw and continued the struggle to gain full and equal human rights for themselves. Books, movies and documentaries which explore sexual discrimination were becoming increasing popular. Even some men are beginning to support the cause of equal human rights for women.
There were women publishers and all-female publishing firms which printed books and pamphlets on women's issues from a secular point of view.
Women still faced severe penalties when they try to have laws changed. "The Campaign for a Million Signatures" was organised in 2005. Its goal was to obtain a petition signed by one million citizens which might influence the government to give women more rights regarding marriage, divorce, adultery, and polygamy. Punishment was swift and severe.
Many of the groups founders were charged with trying to overthrow the government and thrown in jail. Many others faced charges, and six members were forbidden to leave the country. Consequently, many possible supporters were afraid to sign or even to be seen with the remaining campaigners.
Nevertheless, Janet Afary, a professor of Middle East and women's studies at Purdue University stated that the country is moving inexorably toward a "sexual revolution". Iran is a country at the crossroads.
The reformist candidate in the presidential election, Mir-Hossein Mousavi was the first public figure ever to campaign in Iran with his wife by his side. Zahra Rahnavard is an intelligent and talented woman and her husband obviously valued her support and advice. She made outstanding speeches on his behalf. The couple were compared to Barack and Michelle Obama.
Unfortunately, Mr. Mousavi lost the election on June 12, 2009. The women of Iran had no reason to celebrate. Their quest for equality must be postponed, the repressive bonds of Sharia law have not been relaxed. Mr. Ahmadinejad and the clerics who rule Iran have seen to that.
However, Iranian women have tasted a bit of freedom enjoyed by their sisters in the West. It is only a matter of time until they rise up and and seize their rights, as the women in America and Canada did, not so very long ago. When that happens, as it inevitably will, the whole global community will have cause for rejoicing.
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