September 12-14
Police commander Khalil Helali told reporters Sunday that women are prohibited from working in coffee shops and traditional cafes.
The daily Etemad said that, according to Helali, women could obtain licenses to run coffee shops but they will still need to hire male staff because the presence of women in coffee shops is prohibited even if they hold an operating permit.
Helali’s statement was challenged by lawyers, who maintained that there is no law banning women from employment in coffee shops.
Lawyer Nemat Ahmadi told the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA): “The constitution as the highest legal document of the state prohibits any form of gender discrimination, and under labor legislation women are only prevented from performing harsh labor.”
At the fourth National Women’s Conference last December, the rate of economic participation for employed and educated women in the country was pegged at 13.7 percent. This rate has increased by only 1.8 percentage points in the past 35 years. Unemployment among women even in Tehran, with the country’s highest concentration of industrial, administrative and service sector jobs, was reported at 21.6 percent in 2013.