Iran intends to tighten legal penalties to combat violence against women , within the framework of a draft law, the outlines of which were approved by parliamentarians.

Discussions in parliament began more than a decade ago and on Sunday led to the approval of the general principles of the bill, which can still be amended and may be formally adopted in the coming months.

The bill comes seven months after the start of the protest movement that followed the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini , a young woman who was arrested by the "morality police" and accused of violating strict dress codes that required women to wear the veil, in particular.

In recent years, human rights advocates have urged the authorities to reform the Women's Protection Law and to increase penalties for domestic violence.

The bill stipulates a prison sentence of up to 15 years (compared to 10 years now) if a man is convicted of murdering a woman if the victim's family rejects the death penalty in court.

The draft law also criminalizes publishing images of a pornographic nature without the woman's consent, or forcing her into marriage.

Also, the bill allows the judiciary to grant married women permission to leave the country even if their husbands prevent them from traveling.

Controversy arose over this issue in 2015 when the captain of the women's national soccer team was prevented from participating in the Asian Cup by her husband.

The most recent report available shows that nearly 77,000 medical examinations were conducted in 2019 following complaints of domestic violence against women in Iran.

In early January, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei lamented that "men in Iranian society rely on their physical strength to oppress women in the family," adding that "the solution is for the laws to be strict so that no man can oppress them."