A/HRC/28/70 A. Legislation affecting women 1. Population and Family Excellence Plan 68. In October 2014, a vote was postponed on the bill introducing the Population and Family Excellence Plan, the purpose of which is to encourage young people to marry and have children.66 On 21 October 2014, the Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, Shahindokht Mowlaverdi, opposed a provision in the bill that would prohibit hiring unmarried women as university faculty members, stating that such measures would not encourage marriage in society. She noted that the Parliamentary Committee on Health had previously discussed the proposed bill and had voted against articles 9 and 10, which would impose a hierarchy for hiring based on gender and civil status and prohibit hiring unmarried women for faculty positions. 67 2. Bill on protecting women against violence 69. In its response to concerns raised by the Special Rapporteur in his 2014 report to the General Assembly (A/69/356) about the prevalence of violence against women in the country and shortcomings in national laws and the institutional framework for addressing the problem, the Government maintained that domestic violence was a capital offence and noted that legislation to legally define all forms of domestic violence was being considered (ibid., para. 20). It was announced on 29 November 2014 that the draft legislation on protecting women against violence had been submitted to the Administration’s Bills Committee. Ms. Mowlaverdi said her office had recommended that the judiciary establish safe houses for abused women, in line with the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations. 70. Following the acid attacks on women in Isfahan, the Administration announced its intent to work with the judiciary to increase the punishment for such attacks. Protests against the attacks and in support of investigations, however, were prohibited by authorities. On 24 October 2014 a Parliamentarian from Urumiah, Abed Fatahi, defended the rights of protestors.68 Civil society actors, including Narsin Sotoudeh, Peyman Aref and Giti Pourfazel, who participated in a demonstration in front of the Ministry of the Interior in Tehran to protest the attacks, were arrested.69 71. In similar attacks in the city of Jahrom, Fars Province, at least six women, most of them university students, were reportedly stabbed from behind for wearing immodest attire. On 28 November 2014, the City Governor of Jahrom announced the arrest of a suspect. On 5 January 2015, the court of first instance sentenced the perpetrator to execution on charges of moharebeh (commonly translated as “enmity against God”).70 B. Women in the budget 72. The proposed draft budget for March 2015 – March 2016 increases the resources for the Department of Women and Family Affairs by 87 per cent (from 7.9 billion to 15 billion 66 67 68 69 70 18 Shabestan News Agency (semi-official news), 19 November 2014, www.shabestan.ir/detail/News/418119. Tasnim News Agency, 21 October 2014, www.tasnimnews.com/home/single/534745. Aftab News, http://aftabnews.ir/fa/news/267949/. Deutsche Welle, 25 October 2014, http://dw.de/p/1Dc56. Bahar News (semi-official news), 29 November 2014, http://baharnews.ir/vdcc44qe.2bqsx8laa2.html.