Femicide and the Impunity of Killers
Each year, femicides in Iran grow in scale.
At least 176 women and girls have been killed by male family members in domestic or “honor” killings by the end of November 2025, a minimum figure, with the real number far higher.
Compare this to 160 women killed in the entire 2024 and 105 in 2023.
Femicide has deep structural roots in Iran.
The accumulated inequalities and injustices in society ultimately result in the physical elimination of a woman.
Violence inside the home directly reflects the unequal policies that exist on a macro scale.
Examples of women killed in November:
- Mobina Zare, 20, Islamshahr – murdered by her ex-fiancé; her body was burned in an aluminum furnace.
- Leila Alirmaei, 40, Marivan – shot with a Kalashnikov after rejecting the immoral demand of an IRGC member.
- Sarina Rostami, 16, Sarpol-e Zahab – killed with a hunting rifle for refusing a forced marriage.
- Zahra Ghaemi, women’s rights activist – strangled by her husband.
- Shahla Karimani, 38, Mahabad – strangled with a scarf by her husband and brother-in-law.
- Raheleh Siavoshi, 26, Nahavand – stabbed by her husband; died two days later in hospital.
State-Backed Violence and Structural Discrimination
These killings occur under systemic impunity: perpetrators often face little or no punishment, while women are harshly sentenced for social protests or even violating compulsory hijab.
While women are sentenced to long prison terms for “removing their hijab” or protesting discrimination, men who murder their wives typically receive only a few years in prison. In many cases, they can pay money to buy their way out and return to their lives.
The Iranian people blame not society but the regime itself, an oppressive, misogynistic establishment that preserves its power through the suppression and elimination of women.
