Iran’s parliament is preparing to discuss a bill this week that would allow men to marry additional wives without the consent of their first wife, and would tax dowries. It is called the Family Protection Bill, but it is better known as the antifamily bill. Opponents of the bill have largely either been jailed or fled into exile since the bill was last put forward.
Women’s rights activists say the bill, first proposed by President Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s cabinet in 2007, would pave the way for polygamy, harm the family structure, and set back the battle against discriminatory laws in the Islamic republic, where women have second-class legal status.
