Iran’s Dark Reality: The Rise of Femicides & Honor Killings Amid Protests

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September 16th marked the 2nd anniversary of the Women, Life, Freedom protests, which began after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died under police custody after she was arrested for “improperly” wearing the hijab. 

But while civil unrest and protests have largely dwindled or even died down in the spring of last year following the Iranian regime’s efforts to brutally and persistently crack down on what was described as the most significant challenge to the Iranian government since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, killings against female Iranians continue to rise. 

Reports from various media outlets, such as IranWire, say that at least 23 women were killed in different cities across Iran last August. At least 17 of these women were killed by close relatives, including husbands, sons, fathers, cousins, and siblings, with 13 being murdered by their husbands, two by their fathers, and two by their sons. Unknown individuals killed the remaining six.

In some of these media reports, one case was described as an "honor killing," while the reason behind the 17 femicides was often attributed to "family disputes." The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, a Norway-based human rights organization, also reported that two women were murdered during robberies, one was killed with the intent of rape, and two others were murdered for reasons yet unknown. 

Many of these femicides involved teenage victims who are victims of child marriages. For instance, local Iranian media reported that a 17-year-old victim of child marriage attempted to set herself on fire in the southern city of Iranshahr on September 17th. 

The teenager, whose identity remains unknown, was rushed to the hospital in critical condition, with local sources reporting that the girl tried to set herself on fire after she was forced to marry a young man last year, despite her objections. The formal wedding ceremony took place just two weeks before the incident after the teenager was pressured by her parents to continue with the marriage. 

Another incident involved another 17-year-old victim of child marriage, this time from the southern province of Sistan and Baluchistan province, after she was fatally shot and murdered by her cousin on September 7th. Local media reports said she was murdered just three weeks after separating from her cousin.

The victim, identified as Nazanin Baluchi, was forced into marriage at 14 years old. She died from two gunshots to her head The perpetrator, identified only as "A.B.," traveled from Chabad to the victim’s family home just a day before he shot her, where he physically assaulted Nazanin and even accused her of having a secret relationship with a man, a claim she firmly denied.

According to a DW interview with a sociologist from Tehran University, traditional-minded men are having difficulties accepting modernity, which leads to violence. "The number of universities rose in the 1990s, and even women went from the capital Tehran to smaller cities. They took their changed values with them to those cities, including unreligious thoughts and free choice of clothing”. 

The sociologist, who wished to remain anonymous, continued,” The growing significance of social and virtual networks accelerated these changes. The phenomenon of 'honor killings' began here, with men unable to adapt to these cultural changes and the transition from a traditional society to a secular, free one."

Saeed Dehghan, a lawyer and human rights activist, said that as long as the Iranian Constitution is based on Sharia, we cannot expect femicide rates to go down. 

This silent femicide against Iranian women is happening amidst a background of continued repression by the Islamic Republic against any kind of dissent or opposition by protesters and the persistent implementation of the regime’s strict Islamic dress code.

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