Iran's Guardian Council should withdraw its objections to women receiving equal access to higher education abroad, Human Rights Watch has declared, according to Earth Times News Service.
A bill to lift the limits on women studying abroad was rejected last month by the Guardian Council, a conservative-dominated body that serves as Islamic values watchdog.
In a letter to the Guardian Council, Human Rights Watch's Academic Freedom Committee denounced the decision to block a parliamentary bill that would have extended to Iranian women the same rights as men to study at universities abroad. Currently, women can study abroad only with permission from a male guardian, said the service, adding that only men can receive financial assistance for studying overseas.
"The current laws contribute to the broad system of discrimination against women in Iran," said Regan Ralph, executive director of the Women's Rights division of Human Rights Watch. "This bill could have been an important step towards equality for Iranian women. Instead, the Guardian Council remains a serious obstacle to reform.”
The UN Human Rights Commission last year drew attention to human rights in Iran after it issued a report accusing the Islamic state of violating conventions of human rights, which the country rejected – Albawaba.com
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