International Sanctions Hurt the Most Vulnerable
On September 16, 2022, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in Iranian Morality Police custody three days after she was arrested for violating mandatory hijab laws.[1] Authorities who held Amini in a “re-education” center to “give guidance” on wearing a hijab claim her death resulted from a heart attack and claim no responsibility for her death.[2] Amini’s family and the rest of the world doubted the veracity of their claims and took action to seek justice for her wrongful death.[3] Women-led protests in response to Amini’s death began in Iran shortly after her funeral to fight against oppressive policies for women, including the mandatory hijab policies, and have grown to incorporate overall anger about living under an authoritarian regime.[4] Women burned hijabs, cut their hair in protest, and people shouted chants of “death to the dictator.” [5] People are engaging in commercial strikes throughout the country, and contract oil workers have abandoned their jobs at plants to support the protests against government abuse.[6]
The Iranian government has cracked down on protesters using violence and suppressing internet and cellphone service. Riot police used batons, tear gas, guns, and metal pellets to violently suppress demonstrators and break up protests.[7] As of October 6, at least 217 protesters had been killed, including 27 children under age 18.[8] Iran’s government-controlled internet access was cut off to prevent protesters from communicating.[9] The blackouts blocked social media websites, messaging applications, including Instagram and WhatsApp, mobile service and data, and at times, entire internet access.[10] The government detained multiple journalists to curb the spread of unfavorable reporting of the protests. Despite the regime’s efforts to suppress protests, people continued to demonstrate for over a month after Amini’s death.
The international community condemned using violence to suppress civil disobedience and protests that erupted in the wake of Amini’s death and issued sanctions against Iran. [11] The United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner issued a press release shortly after Amini’s death calling for a full investigation into the cause, denouncing the use of oppressive physical force to put down protests and expressing disdain for internet blockages.[12] United State Treasury Department levied sanctions on the Morality Police for continued violence and internet suppression on September 22, 2022, and on October 6, 2022, the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control designated seven high-ranking Iranian government leaders for financial penalties.[13]
Although intended to punish the Iranian leaders authorizing violence to quash protests, the employment of sanctions against the government adversely impacts the Iranian people, especially women.[14] Sanctions devastate economies and disproportionately harm those most vulnerable populations, working-class people and women who feel the effects of greater rates of poverty, unemployment, and increased cost of living.[15] The imposition of sanctions weakens local currency and makes the prices of everyday essentials unaffordable for most people.[16] Dire economic situations result in women experiencing greater rates of layoffs and increased discrimination in hiring practices, worsening the situation for women and their families.[17] The worsening situation for women and their families is partly due to the traditional gender roles that place women in the home as caretakers and men as breadwinners for their families.[18] Additionally, the sectors in which women are mostly employed, such as electrical equipment, agricultural goods, seafood, and textiles, tend to be the ones most affected by the sanctions.[19]
Economies suffering under sanctions often cut welfare benefit programs, such as state-supported education, maternity leave, and health care, essential to women and people in need.[20] The disruption is particularly harsh in terms of meeting the needs for medicines and medical supplies.[21] Women are uniquely vulnerable when there is a lack of medical resources because their ability to plan for a family, carry a pregnancy and deliver and care for a child safely are more expensive and may be inaccessible.[22]
Sanctions are counterproductive to combating violence against protesters because they often allow extremist leaders to “exploit populist outrage and gain power.”[23] Government elites control wealth and use their position to quash the women fighting against their oppressive policies.[24] While some response is necessary to support the protesters advocating for greater equality and a more accountable government, international sanctions may not be the best solution to aid the people in need in Iran.
Rachel Blume is a staff member of Fordham International Law Journal Volume XLVI.
This is a student blog post and in no way represents the views of the Fordham International Law Journal.
[1] See Anisha Kohli, What to Know About the Iranian Protests Over Mahsa Amini’s Death, Time (Sept. 24, 2022, 1:41 PM EDT), https://time.com/6216513/mahsa-amini-iran-protests-police/.
[2] See id.
[3] See id.
[4] See id.
[5] See, Cora Engelbrecht & Farnaz Fassihi, Protests Intensify in Iran Over Woman Who Died in Custody, N.Y. Times (last updated Sept. 22, 2022), https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/21/world/middleeast/iran-protests-mahsa-amini.html.
[6] See Alessandra Bajec, How civil disobedience is driving Iran's protest movement, The New Arab (Oct. 20, 2022), https://english.alaraby.co.uk/analysis/how-civil-disobedience-driving-irans-protest-movement.
[7] See Iran: Security Forces Fire On, Kill Protesters, Human Rights Watch (Oct 5, 2022, 11:20 AM EDT), https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/10/05/iran-security-forces-fire-kill-protesters.
[8] See Iran Human Rights Warns of the Situation of Detainees/Urgent International Action Crucial, Iran Human Rights (Oct. 20, 2022), https://iranhr.net/en/articles/5526/.
[9] See Artemis Moshtaghian et al., Young Iranians are rising up against decades of repression – arguably bolder than ever, CNN (last updated Sept. 25, 2022, 1:19AM), https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/24/middleeast/mahsa-amini-death-iran-internet-un-investigation-intl-hnk/index.html.
[10] See Catherine Thorbecke, Iran’s sweeping internet blackouts are a serious cause for concern, CNN BUSINESS (last updated Sept. 24, 2022, 7:04AM), https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/24/tech/iran-internet-blackout/index.html.
[11] See Press Release, U.N. Hum. Rts. Off. of High Comm’r, Iran: UN experts demand accountability for death of Mahsa Amini, call for end to violence against women (Sept. 22, 2022), https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/09/iran-un-experts-demand-accountability-death-mahsa-amini-call-end-violence; Brianna Navarre, How Countries Are Responding to Iran’s Crackdown on Dissent, US News & World Report (Oct. 7, 2022, 3:56 PM), https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2022-10-07/how-countries-are-responding-to-irans-repression.
[12] Press Release, U.N. Hum. Rts. Off. of High Comm’r, Iran: UN experts demand accountability for death of Mahsa Amini, call for end to violence against women (Sept. 22, 2022), https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/09/iran-un-experts-demand-accountability-death-mahsa-amini-call-end-violence
[13] See Fatima Hussein, U.S. hits Iran with more sanctions in response to Mahsa Amini’s death, PBS (Oct. 6, 2022, 1:54 PM EDT), https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-hits-iran-with-more-sanctions-in-response-to-mahsa-aminis-death.
[14] See Sara Rahnama, Images of unveiled Iranian protesters inspire. But there are risks, too, The Wash. Post (Oct. 20, 2022, 7:13 AM EDT), https://www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-history/2022/10/20/iranian-women-hijab-sanctions-iran/.
[15] See U.N. News, Unilateral sanctions particularly harmful to women, children, other vulnerable groups (Dec. 8, 2021), https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/12/1107492.
[16] See Sima Shakhsari, Without Ending Deadly Sanctions on Iran, There Can Be No “Woman, Life, Freedom”, Truthout (Oct. 20, 2022), https://truthout.org/articles/without-ending-deadly-sanctions-on-iran-there-can-be-no-woman-life-freedom/.
[17] See Samaa Khullar, Getting "tough" with Iran won't help the rising women's movement — it may destroy it, Salon (Sept. 28, 2022, 5:45 AM), https://www.salon.com/2022/09/28/getting-tough-with-iran-wont-help-the-rising-womens-movement--it-may-destroy-it/
[18] See id.
[19] See id.
[20] See Juliana DeSimone, The Humanitarian Impacts of Sanctions on Women, Massachusetts Peace Action (Aug. 5, 2020), https://masspeaceaction.org/the-humanitarian-impacts-of-sanctions-on-women/.
[21] See id.
[22] See id.
[23] See Sima Shakhsari, Without Ending Deadly Sanctions on Iran, There Can Be No “Woman, Life, Freedom Truthout (Oct. 19, 2022), https://truthout.org/articles/without-ending-deadly-sanctions-on-iran-there-can-be-no-woman-life-freedom/.
[24] See id.