In Iran, an often-overlooked aspect of the prison system is the reality of young children incarcerated with their mothers. According to recent statistics, women make up 3.6% of the total prison population, as stated by Gholamali Mohammadi, the head of Iran’s Prisons Organization. However, the exact number of mothers incarcerated with their young children remains unknown.
Based on a detailed article from HamMihan Daily, this report explores the lives of these women in the infamous Qarchak Prison, located in Varamin, near Tehran, shedding light on their unique struggles and the challenging environment where they attempt to care for their children.
Life Behind Bars: Mahsa’s Story
“Freedom,” ironically, was the first word Mahsa learned. Mahsa’s mother, Afsoon, was arrested two years ago on murder charges when Mahsa was just a few days old. Allegedly, Afsoon took responsibility for a crime her husband was involved in, hoping he could manage their lives on the outside. Yet, after his release, he disappeared from her life, leaving her in prison with their daughter.
In Qarchak, Mahsa’s world is limited to the prison’s halls and the confined mother-child ward, where she spends her days alongside nine other children whose mothers share a similar fate.
These children grow up hearing stories of freedom and seeing the celebrations when other women are released, an event that, for Mahsa’s mother, brings more pain than joy as she wonders, “Why should my child grow up here?”
The Lack of Resources and Limited Support
Pregnancy in prison is a severe ordeal for women at Qarchak. The simplest cravings go unfulfilled, as the prison cannot supply sufficient food or provide the resources that would ease these women’s hardships. Some women, if they can afford it, purchase from the prison store, but many lack the financial means.
The prison has a daycare facility, but it remains largely unused and only occasionally opens, particularly during official inspections. Afsoon describes the sense of hopelessness she feels watching her child in an environment where there are neither resources nor educational opportunities. While a daycare center was established in 2014, it has since become a symbolic feature, only brought to life for visits by Iranian officials.
This is a symptom of a larger issue in the clerical regime’s prison system: children are not prioritized. Hanieh Yousefian, a filmmaker who documented life in Qarchak Prison, reported that despite the efforts made to introduce play equipment and daycare facilities, children remain a neglected group within the prison walls. They are often left under the care of mothers who are themselves in distress, unable to provide the mental and emotional support a young child requires.
The Legal Limbo for Young Children and Their Mothers
Iranian law states that children are allowed to stay with their mothers in prison until the age of two. At this point, they should either be handed over to family members or, if no relatives are available, placed in welfare organizations like the Iranian State Welfare Organization (Behzisti).
However, this rule is frequently waived, allowing children to stay with their mothers until they turn six. For mothers like Afsoon, this extension represents both relief and anguish—relief in keeping their children close, and anguish at the thought of their child growing up in confinement.
The social stigma associated with incarcerated mothers complicates their situations further. Shahrzad Hemmati, a journalist and social activist, highlights that many women behind bars were compelled into crime due to the actions of male family members.
For example, a woman may have been coerced by her husband or father into smuggling or theft and later punished for these actions. These women live in a harsh reality where, on top of their sentence, they face emotional threats from family or even their victims’ families, who sometimes threaten the mother’s children if a debt or sentence remains unpaid.
Struggling to be Mothers in Prison
Mothers in Qarchak find themselves divided into two groups: those who keep their children with them in prison and those who are separated from their children, who are cared for by relatives or the welfare system. Both groups suffer.
For those who have their children in prison, the lack of sufficient nutrition, healthcare, and personal space creates a challenging environment. They must witness their children experience illnesses that spread quickly within the prison, often without immediate access to proper medical care.
Women like Afsoon see the world for their children as limited and bleak. She describes the small, stuffy room and the “courtyard” where children can only hear about life beyond the prison walls.
“When someone mentions freedom, my daughter repeats the word like a dream she doesn’t fully understand,” Afsoon recounts with sorrow. For her, and many other mothers, their children’s isolation within the prison confines becomes a source of profound heartache and guilt.
A Cry for Attention and Change
The situation of incarcerated mothers and their children in Iranian prisons, especially in facilities like Qarchak, highlights a profound need for change. Many women face systemic challenges, being either abandoned by their families or coerced by external threats to stay quiet.
If mothers had better support networks or access to reform programs, they could reintegrate into society with their children, breaking the cycle of poverty and crime that often keeps families trapped in the prison system. Until the corrupt mullahs’ regime is overthrown by the Iranian people, mothers like Afsoon will have to continue to live with the daily pain of seeing their children grow up without a childhood.
