Iran’s first ever minister for women’s affairs was appointed in 1975.

Mahnaz Afkhami was the first person in the Muslim world to hold that position. While she was in that role, the government granted women equal divorce rights, raised the minimum age of marriage to 18 and supported women’s employment with maternity leave and childcare.

In 2018, Farhana Haider spoke to her about being the only woman in the pre-revolutionary Iranian cabinet.

(Photo: Mahnaz Afkhami at the UN in 1975. Credit: Mahnaz Afkhami)