India being a male-dominated country, we often argue on what some women can and cannot do due to the various societal and cultural pressures on them. There have been many times when I’ve endlessly ranted about not being able to wear certain clothes or walk down the street with ease. But never did I think of the life women in other countries lead-in countries that are much more stringent in their laws for women.
What came as a shocking revelation to most of us, married women in Iran are not allowed the basic right to travel out of the country without the consent of their husbands. This law came to the forefront when Iranian female soccer star, Niloufer Ardalan could not participate in the upcoming Asian Football Confederation’s Women’s Championship in Futsal (Indoor soccer) to be held in Malaysia’s Nilai from September 21 to 26, because her husband refused to grant her permission.
The 30-year-old Ardalan who has captained Iran’s national Women’s Soccer team was all set to participate in the indoor version of soccer where each team fields five players. She had been training hard for the game as she wanted to win and make her country proud, but this isn’t going to be possible now.
Ardalan’s husband, Mehdi Toutounchi who is a sports journalist has always been in favour of women’s soccer but has taken this opportunity of keeping Ardalan from playing in the games for the trivial reason of not wanting her to miss their son’s first day of school.
This Iranian law of not allowing women to travel without the consent of their husbands highlights Iran’s discriminatory laws that favour men in matters of judiciary, inheritance, divorce and child custody, making women feel like second-class citizens.
And even though Ardalan has been kept away from playing the game she loves so much all because she is a woman, we are proud of the fact that she chose to take a stand on it and speak up. Most women would have let this stay inside the four walls of their home but Niloufer’s courage of speaking the truth and sharing her plight with the world is actually commendable.
This one little step could inspire many women to speak up for themselves instead of simply tolerating the misogynistic attitude and discrimination meted out to them in various walks of life.
Because most Indian women face similar circumstances in their daily life due to our patriarchal society that automatically puts women in the second position, we’ve got something to learn from Niloufer’s bravery too, don’t you think?
Image via Fars News Agency
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