Iran removed from UN Commission on the Status of Women

Iran was ousted from a United Nations women's group on Wednesday for policies contrary to the rights of women and girls, a move proposed by the United States after Tehran's crackdown on protests over the death of a young woman in custody.

The 54-member U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) adopted a U.S.-drafted resolution to "remove with immediate effect the Islamic Republic of Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) for the remainder of its 2022-2026 term."

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.

The vote was the first time in United Nations history that a country was expelled from the commission.

It was the second step against the Islamic Republic’s violations of human rights during the current wave of protests. The first step by the United Nations to hold the Islamic Republic accountable for its crackdown on protesters was creating a fact-finding mission by the Human Rights Council. 

The Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council voted on November 24 to launch an independent investigation into the regime’s deadly repression of protests that has killed around 500 civilians, including about 60 children.