By Jess McCabe | 1 December 2007, 18:51

Are you a fundamentalist regime, with a poor record on women’s rights? Getting a bad rep in the international community?

Perhaps you’re coming under pressure at home, with grass roots activists gathering signatures in an attempt to get discriminatory laws repealed.

What can you do to stem the tide? Perhaps you might ban the word women from state TV, and insist it is replaced with the word “family”.

Because the two terms are interchangeable and women have no existence outside of the family.

While in the UK we were marching on the streets, AKI reports:

In programmes broadcast throughout the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against women last Sunday, Iranian state TV used the world family instead.

Depressing? Sorry, but there’s more to come. According to Reuters, the Iranian police are promising to crack down on women wearing trousers that are “too tight”, as well as hats:

“Considering the start of the cold season and its special way of dressing, police will start early next week a drive against women who wear improper dress,” Tehran police chief Ahmad Reza Radan was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.

“Tight trousers tucked inside long boots while wearing short overcoats are against Islamic codes,” the police chief said.

“Wearing a hat or cap instead of scarves is also against Islamic dress codes.”