Iran’s Daughters of the Sea

They have worked in defiance of Iran’s labor laws, which stipulate that “women shall not be employed to perform dangerous, arduous or harmful work.” For decades, the government failed to grant fishing licenses to women, depriving them of fuel subsidies and the right to insure their boats. After the women protested, the Fisheries Department agreed two years ago to issue licenses, though each had to be shared by two women, even if they had their own vessels.

Iran’s theocracy is strident about its priorities. “The most important role that a woman can play at any level of science, literacy, information, research, and spirituality is the role of a mother and wife,” Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has decreed. “This is more important than all her other works.” Within a family, a father or husband is also able to prevent his daughter or wife from working a job that he deems beneath the family’s dignity. Last year, the World Economic Forum’s report on the global gender gap ranked the Islamic Republic among the bottom four in its survey of a hundred and forty-six countries.