TEHRAN An adviser to the labor minister criticized the status of women in the society, saying they are not given the venue to prove their capabilities.

Fatemeh Karrubi, daughter of the Majlis Speaker Mahdi Karrubi, told IRNA that women are suffering from national problems that have to be taken into account by state and nongovernmental organizations. She said that in the status quo, presence of women in the society is a must.

Meanwhile last Monday, President Mohammad Khatami stressed that the ground should be prepared for women to play a stronger role in upgrading their status in the society. He said if women are confined to home, they would miss opportunities to make any progress.

Since his election in May 1997 on a landslide vote, Khatami had been trying to give more role to women. Khatami himself has several times acknowledged the role of women in his victory and paid back that support with the appointment of Ma'soumeh Ebtekar as the first-ever female vice president in Iranian history.

A number of women are also active in his cabinet as deputy ministers and advisers. For the first time, the country has appointed a woman district governor.

There are also 11 female MPs in the Majlis all pro- Khatami reformists. Even in the Judiciary and police, it is hard to overlook the women who are gradually appearing in family courts and police squads.

In December, an exclusive women taxi service agency was said to be launched with women as their only employees and clients.

Recently, women were also permitted to serve on the police force on the basis of an amendment to Article 20 of the law for the employment of Law Enforcement Forces personnel.

Primarily there were negative attitudes toward women police and some even opposed it as being contradictory to other responsibilities performed by women. However, current activities of women police have negated all past judgments.

(IRNA)