Iranian women face gender discrimination in housing
Tehran, Feb 2 (efe-epa).- Renting a home in large Iranian cities is difficult for a large part of the population due to high prices, but single and divorced women face another problem on top of the economic one — prejudice.
It took more than six months for divorced teacher Mahshid Akrami Puya to rent an apartment in Tehran. She ended up asking her father for help in dealing with the real estate companies and, in the end, they realized it was “necessary to lie” for the owner to reach a deal.
“In the (lease) agreement it says that I live with my children even though they actually live with their father,” says Mahshid, who got married at a very young age and soon became pregnant. She divorced six years ago, after 25 years of marriage.
Mahshid said she lived with her children in order to rent both her first home and her current place in Tehran, after being rejected by several owners for her status as a “single woman.”
On many occasions neither the owners nor the real estate companies offer the real reasons for the rejection but, according to Mahshid, the reality is that “they think that the house could be filled with men or that a single woman is not able to pay the rent.”EFE-EPA
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