Since the 1979 revolution, women have struggled to regain lost rights and win a larger role in society, despite a regime that is generally unfriendly to women’s issues.

"The 1979 revolution politicized the mass of Iranian women," says Iran expert Haleh Esfandiari. "But women’s expectations were not realized. The new theocracy systematically rolled back five decades of progress in women’s rights. Women were purged from government positions. All females, including girls in first grade, were forced to observe the hejab, or Islamic dress code. Family laws were scraped. For the next three decades, however, the energy Iranian women displayed during the revolution propelled them deeper into the public arena to regain their rights. The result is one of the most dynamic women’s movements in the Islamic world, and female activists who have won international recognition in a wide array of professions."