Vanessa Rafati

What is the impact of international sanctions interacting with Iran’s personal status and family law restrictions on women’s economic and political power?

Started Oct. 28, 2025

Abstract or project description

Scholars have explained how religion, globalization, and sanctions have individually created inequality for minorities in Iran. However, in this article, I will be specifically focusing on the reinforcement between gendered laws and international sanctions that further constrain women’s power. Therefore, I ask what is the impact of international sanctions interacting with Iran’s personal status and family law restrictions on women’s economic and political power? I argue that these discriminatory policies and sanctions work together to push women even further down the economic ladder. By decreasing their economic opportunities, this creates a feedback loop where women lose even more social and political power, as more restrictions are placed on women. This study contributes to feminist political economy by demonstrating that patriarchal domestic policy and international economic sanctions do not operate independently, but mutually reinforce a system that undermines women’s autonomy, socially, politically, and economically.