During the 46 years of the Islamic Republic regime, the oppression of women in this society and the struggle against this oppression, alongside the struggles of workers for their trampled basic rights, have always been central themes of an extensive social conflict. Opposition parties and political groups, as well as civil society organizations, have tried to express the content and substance of this struggle from their own perspective and to influence the course of this broad social confrontation. At the same time, the differences in this regard are serious and decisive.
When communists speak of equality among all individuals regardless of gender, race, nationality, etc., they mean true and social equality not merely legal equality. Legal equality in a class society, where individuals are born into unequal conditions and possess unequal positions from birth, cannot guarantee true equality. Communists, while defending the legal equality of all members of society and fighting to achieve these rights, do not stop there. They fight for the establishment of a system in which equal social and economic opportunities and conditions are provided for all members. From our perspective, legal equality regardless of gender, race, belief, etc., is only a necessary condition for achieving full social equality.
From the communist viewpoint, women and men must achieve not only legal equality but also true equality in all social, economic, and political aspects. This means, firstly, that all laws discriminating between men and women must be abolished. For example, women should have the same right to work and access all occupations as men; in family matters, women and men should have completely equal rights, including in marriage, divorce, and child custody. All special privileges legally granted to men under the title “head of household” must be abolished. Politically, women should have the same rights as men to vote and to be elected in all areas.
Secondly, as a necessary condition for implementing these equal rights, equal social, economic, political, and educational opportunities must be provided for all women, enabling them to develop their talents and capabilities and raise their level of awareness. Women should have access to conditions that allow them to stand economically independent from men.
However, to genuinely create these opportunities, all cultural and religious barriers must also be removed. Therefore, a broad and extensive struggle must be organized against patriarchal ideas and beliefs that justify the inferior and oppressed status of women and have penetrated the depths of society.
Additionally, due to the special role women have as mothers, they face many limitations under the capitalist system, as capitalism takes no responsibility for this role or for children in society, placing the full burden on families. As a result, many women due to financial poverty or cultural deprivation lose their lives during childbirth or suffer from long-term health issues, meaning that even in terms of basic survival, women are not equal to men. Society must be practically responsible and committed to the maternal role of women, not treating it as a private issue but by providing extensive and free healthcare, treatment, and social services to eliminate these limitations and oppressions imposed on women by class society.
Furthermore, under capitalism, motherhood and child-rearing impose social and economic restrictions on women, creating barriers to their personal development. Capitalism deprives women of many rights and opportunities because of their maternal role and responsibilities. Motherhood becomes an obstacle to achieving legal and social equality. This is because the class-based, exploitative capitalist system treats motherhood and child-rearing as private matters. We, however, see this entirely as a social issue and propose social solutions.
Therefore, we emphasize providing specific rights and facilities for mothers and pregnant women: pregnant women should have sufficient maternity leave before and after childbirth without losing their wages and benefits; enough nurseries and childcare centers should exist within communities, cities, and neighborhoods so that women can leave their babies and children there and pursue work or education; working hours should be reduced for women with infants, without any loss of salary, so they can properly care for their newborns. The society should be developed enough to provide such welfare facilities that the burden of exhausting and tedious housework is lifted from women’s shoulders. This would also eliminate all justifications and excuses used by governments and capitalists to deprive women of equal rights due to motherhood.
