Comparative Study of Harassment Against Women in the Criminal Law of Iran, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Harassment against women has become one of the most serious issues related to the contemporary criminal justice system in societies characterized by rapid social, cultural, and technological change. This work attempts a comparative study of the concept of harassment against women, the way it has been described, and its application and enforcement within the criminal law of Iran, Turkey, and the UAE. A doctrinal, comparative methodology was applied to this study by reviewing statutory materials, where applicable, case laws, and policies in the three jurisdictions under consideration. This research proved that even though all three countries consider harassment a punishable offense, there are very important fundamental differences in so many aspects: widening or narrowing the criminalization, the role of public morality, the evidentiary threshold, and the impact of religious and international standards. Conclusively, all three legal systems present simultaneously better and worse alternatives for the improvement of a coherent and victim-centered approach: the digital harassment, harassment within the private sphere, and gender-neutral drafting Criminal Law is an area in which women are harassed.