Has Ms. Jennifer Fasulo thought about the fact that women's rights activists in Iran are generally Islamic feminists or Muslim liberals and social democrats, hardly in favor of such sects as the Worker Communist Party of Iran, nor are trade unionists and student activists in Iran for that matter?
>From one of the best known feminists in Iran, we learn many things
about Iran that we never learn from sects:
<blockquote>Supporting Working Mothers
According to Article 77 of the Labor Law, employers are obliged to accommodate pregnant workers, without wage cuts, by providing them with less strenuous work, as determined by a medical practitioner of the Social Security Organization.
Maternity leave for female workers is a total of 90 days, at least 45 days of which have to be taken after childbirth. For multiple births, 14 days are added to the leave. After her maternity leave has ended, the female worker returns to her previous position and her period of absence, upon the approval of the Social Security Organization, will be factored into her future entitlement benefits.
After the revolution when the birth rates reached a perilous level, the Family Planning and Population Act was enacted (1993), which reduced the maternity benefits of female workers after their third child. Women who were pregnant with their fourth child were no longer entitled to maternity leave and time away from work was deducted from their paid vacation time. In workshops that employ nursing female workers, the employer is obliged to give the mother half an hour to breast-feed her child every three hours throughout the work day. Mothers are entitled to this paid time during the first two years of their child's life. According to Article 69 of the Social Security Law (1975), if the insured mother or the wife of an insured man is afflicted with an illness that prevents her from nursing her child, or if the mother dies after childbirth, the necessary milk will be provided for the first 18 months of the child's life.
According to Article 67 of the Social Security Law, a female worker who has worked at least two months and has paid 60 days of insurance dues within the past year, can benefit from the following assistance:
A. Maternity assistance - If she is unemployed, the insured can benefit from this financial assistance, the amount of which is two-thirds of her last earnings for a twelve-week period before or after childbirth
B. Pre-natal and natal care - These include tests, treatment, medication, and hospitalization in maternity wards, Social Security Organization hospitals, or their affiliates.
The pregnant woman is obliged to undergo medical examinations at three and seven months of her pregnancy and to obtain examination certificates from a doctor or midwife, to be included in her file.
* In places where the organization has the necessary facilities, whether in-house or outsourced, the pregnant woman is required to use those facilities for childbirth; otherwise the organization will not underwrite the expenses. In areas where the organization has no facilities, a fixed amount is paid to the pregnant woman according to the going rate.
* In the event that the pregnant woman undergoes abortion, the costs will be covered according to her insurance agreement.
* In workshops with female workers, the employer is obliged to provide childcare facilities proportionate to the number of children and their age group.
Childcare Centers
According to the Administrative Procedures for Nursery and Childcare Centers that was drafted and approved (1991) by the Welfare Organization of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, childcare centers must be established as close to the mothers' workplace as possible, and preferably in the same building. Different workshops situated in the same geographic location can establish shared daycare centers after obtaining permission from the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
Article 1 of the Procedures defines childcare centers as, "Institutions concerned with the education, care, and welfare of children, structured at three levels consisting of nursery (45 days to 2 years of age), preschool (2-5 years of age), and kindergarten (5 years until grade school), that care for children whose mothers are employed in workshops or factories." Should they have childcare problems, the children of male workers can also be accepted to these centers with the coordination of the manager of the workshop or factory.
* Establishing all three levels is obligatory if the need exists, and in workshops that employ women workers for their second shifts, childcare centers must also be provided.
* Each mother can send two children to the center; the care for any more children must be covered by the mother.
* Pursuant to Article 14 of the procedures, all of the centers' costs are to be covered by the employer, whether they are fixed or realizable expenses.
* The director of a childcare center must be a citizen of the Islamic Republic, have no criminal record, and be at least 25 years of age (in equal circumstances, married persons have priority). The director must hold at least a high school diploma and have five years of work experience in childcare and child education.
In workshops where the majority of mothers belong to a religious minority, workshop or factory managers are obliged to select a childcare director from among the said minority. (Excerpts from Shirin Ebadi, _Women's Rights in the Laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran_, Published in Iran in 2002, <http://www.badjens.com/ebadi.html>)</blockquote>
The question we ought to be asking is why American women* can't get paid maternity leaves and the like here hat even an Islamic republic provides women.
* See "The Work, Family, and Equity Index: Where Does the United States Stand Globally?" <http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/pipermail/lbo-talk/Week-of-Mon-20060828/045210.html> -- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/> <http://mrzine.org> <http://monthlyreview.org/>