Women's rights in the middle of Islamic law and Custom: Women's confrontation with challenges of having the right to employment and financial independence

Background and purpose:

Jurists' opinions and the Iran official laws indicate the Legislate rights to employment and financial independence for women. However, married women's experiences show the barriers and problems that make it challenging to have these two rights. This study seeks to identify the strategies adopted by women to deal with these barriers, using the jurisprudential-legal approach and the cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger, 1957) while introducing the obstacles to women's right to employment and financial independence. This is because the kind of strategies adopted by women has important economic and social consequences. For example, population growth, which leads to increased political power, depends on the role of women in childbearing. Also, the impact of human capital on production and economic efficiency (Aghaei et al., 2013) is affected by the contribution of educated women in society. Therefore, adopting no childbearing or only one child strategy by women due to enjoying the right to employment (Sadeghi and Shahabi, 1396) is as economically and politically problematic as adopting an approach of returning home and leaving the social activity. Therefore, the present study seeks to answer the question: What do women adopt in the face of barriers to enjoy the right to employment and financial independence?

Method:

In this study, we used a qualitative method using Wolcott's thematic analysis. Participants include employed women resident in Tehran province that were married at the time of research or have had marital experience.  The sample was recruited through purposeful sampling. Then, theoretical sampling was done based on the developing concepts with maximum variety and density of categories' dimensions. Finally, interviews (n=22) ended based on criteria of theoretical-conceptual saturation.

Results:

Women's Barriers and strategies in the face of violation of rights to employment and financial independence were extracted in five central themes, ''structural barriers'', ''cultural barriers'', ''role expansion '', ''role management'', and ''role escapism''. "Cultural barriers" refer to the incompatibility of cultural norms governing society and women's right to employment and financial independence. "Structural barriers" indicate the inconsistency of social structures and the country's employment system with the culture of society and women's responsibilities at home. "Role expansion" means expanding the responsibilities and tasks defined for women. "Role management" indicates self-management through secrecy and autonomy. "Role escapism" refers to the abandonment of some duties to benefit from other duties.

Conclusion:

Based on women's experiences, cultural conditions and social structures do not fit their right to employment and financial independence. On the one hand, women are culturally and physiologically age-restricted in marriage and fertility. On the other hand, they are faced with an age requirement in employment law, regardless of their role in the perpetuation of generation. By choosing the role of a mother despite having maternity leave during their education, they lose the opportunity of employment. Because they cannot compete with their male peers in terms of age. In contrast, women who prioritize social roles lose the chance to marry or fertility. Consequently, women facing these situations are forced to adopt strategies that, in addition to family relationships, also affect the social and economic system of the country.

According to cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger, 1957), women facing these barriers resort to the mechanism of behavioral and cognitive changes. They are trying to enjoy the right to employment, for example, by expanding their role, changing their attitude towards the role of men and women, and provision of family income. This partnership consolidates the family if it is based on their consent. However, suppose it is at the husband's insistence and without the consent of the wife. In that case, it can cause irreparable harm to raising children and the growth of family and society due to the uncertainty and forbidden nature of property- an issue that has been neglected in women's employment studies

Similarly, role management through secrecy and independence is in contrast with the principle of honesty and good companionship in the family, and prevents the family warmth and is considered economically unfavorable due to the lack of proper capital management and its accumulation in the form of gold and coins. Finally, and consistent with Sadeghi and Shahabi (2017), the role escapism strategy experienced by some women in the form of deprivation of maternal blessings or less childbearing has many political and social consequences that, if adopted by more women, will cause many problems. Also, according to Aghaei et al. (2013), the returning home strategy and leaving social activities lead to a waste of educational investment.