In recent years, there has been a surge of domestic violence against women and honor killings in Iran.
On the morning of Monday, June 25, 2023, the mutilated body of a woman, aged between 35 and 40, was found in a freezer next to a garbage dumpster in the Khazaneh district of Tehran. The woman’s identity, time, and cause of her death are under investigation by the Criminal Police.
One month ago, the blood-drenched body of a woman was found in Azadi Square, Tehran. The body was concealed inside a sports bag. (The state-run Rokna.net, May 24, 2023)
The statistics of honor killings in Iran are beyond measure. However, there was a horrifying case involving a 28-year-old woman named Maryam Soltani, who was murdered by her father and two brothers in one of the villages in Khoy. The young woman was a mother of three children.
On Friday, April 14, 2023, following the release of a private video from Maryam, her father called her to the house. Along with his two sons, they shaved her head to the scalp. After a severe beating, torture, and abuse, they hanged her. Maryam was one of the victims of forced child marriage, as she was compelled to marry at 15.
An indicator of societal security
One of the indicators of societal security, particularly psychological security, is the rate and proportion of murder and crime, especially domestic crimes. Among domestic crimes, honor killings, whether it is the killing of a sister or brother, the killing of a spouse, the killing of a child, or the killing of a father or mother, hold a special significance. However, women are more often the victims of domestic homicides and honor killings in Iran than men.
According to an article in one of the government newspapers, the available evidence indicates domestic violence is at the forefront of social emergency visits nationwide. Approximately 20% of all murders in the country are honor killings, and 40% of the total murders are domestic homicides. The available statistics show a significant increase in honor killings in Iran’s western provinces in 2021-2022. This year, the occurrence of honor killings in the western part of the country has shown a growing trend. The occurrence of approximately 10% of honor killings worldwide in our country, Iran, is a warning sign…” (The state-run Sharghdaily.com, June 25, 2023)
Who is the real criminal?
The clerical laws give parents the right to force their girls to marry as child brides, allow men to abuse women, and give them the green light to torture and even murder women. That’s why on average, every year in Iran, at least 450 women are victims of honor-killing and domestic murders by their husbands, fathers, or brothers.
The regime’s failure to adopt a bill to ensure women’s security and the lack of deterrent laws to address such brutal violence, coupled with the regime’s failure to criminalize violence against women, has led to an increase and spread of domestic violence, femicides, and honor killings in Iran.
While knives, sickles, or any other weapon in all their forms are in the hands of a father, brother, husband, or another family member, preventing more murders of women requires that misogynist thought to be condemned and destroyed. Under the current regime, the prevailing medieval view is that officially and in all laws, women are second-class citizens and subservient to men. This idea is part of the mullahs’ ideological pillar in all its policies. For example, in the case of compulsory veiling, violation of the law of compulsory veiling is considered a matter of national security and carries the heaviest penalties.
In a structure like the one in Iran, even if the killer is punished, a state assassination adds to the regime’s crimes and spreads the killing. However, the context and form of the issue remain, and the men of this intellectual apparatus are increasingly driven to brutal behavior.
