Drawing on the Iranian and Islamic traditions of charity work, civil organizations in Iran fall roughly into two groups. The first group, community-based organizations (CBOs), tend to be religiously based and focus on service delivery, health issues, and education. They have strong roots in the communities they serve and are primarily funded by local donations. CBOs provide a number of direct services to women, including legal counsel for women seeking divorce.

A second group of civil organizations more closely resemble non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the …