Gender conflict in Iran: A critique of human rights and conflict resolution

Abstract

This study investigates to what extent international human rights advocates and conflict resolvers are skilled and equipped to deal with situations such as the state-run gender violence which has led to a protracted conflict in a country like Iran. This project aims to first contextualize the gender conflict in Iran, then provide a detailed analysis of the conflict both qualitatively and quantitatively, and then offer the impacts of human rights and conflict resolution fields, including their shortcomings. It calls attention to the role of domestic and international non-governmental organizations over the period of 1979-2009. It also provides a briefing on the application of international human rights protocols, laws and methods of rights protection, intervention and practices of international human rights groups to support their local counterparts in Iran. In addition, this study utilized the lens of conflict resolution to analyze the gender conflict in Iran, its cause and effect, and its phases over the last 30 years, while evaluating existing strategies for methods of intervention and prevention. Recognizing the strength and weaknesses of both fields, the purpose of this project was not to bring the two fields together, but rather to enhance the current understanding of the common grounds between the two fields and stress the need for further partnership between them. Given the underrepresentation of gender analysis in human rights and conflict resolution fields, this project also contributes to the literature and discourse in both fields.