The inaction of the judiciary and law enforcement agencies in the face of domestic violence against a woman provoked the anger and disgust of the Iranian people.
For 27 years, Ashraf Sadat Hosseini, from Tehran, was systematically subjected to domestic violence.
In the most recent occurrence, Ashraf’s husband attacked her, stabbing her with a machete. She sustained serious injuries and was on the brink of death when her son came home and, with the help of local residents, took her to the hospital.
A reporter who visited Ashraf in the hospital noted her injuries: multiple stitches in Ashraf’s face; she had also been blinded and her fingers and part of the palm of one hand had been amputated. Her other hand had become paralyzed. She had also been stabbed multiple times in the head with a knife and a machete. Ashraf could barely speak, but the horror of the day came through in her weak voice (The state-run ROKNA news agency – December 28, 2020).
Inaction of law enforcement officers on domestic violence against a defenseless woman
Ashraf had complained to the police several times about her husband’s brutal attacks during her difficult life. In a recent incident, Ashraf’s husband hit her on the head with a heavy vase and broke her rib cage. However, the husband was released on bail. After his release, Ashraf went to the police station to protest but received this answer: “What should be done? He is your husband and there is nothing we can do!”
Because of her complaint to the police, Ashraf’s husband came back to assault his wife with the intent to kill her. Believing that he had succeeded in doing so, he fled when several people arrived on the scene, taking with him one of his wife’s fingers and her ring.
After the latest incident, Ashraf Sadat Hosseini wrote a letter to Ibrahim Raisi, the head of the regime’s judiciary, asking, “Why shouldn’t the judiciary, the government, and the system support a woman who wants to live with dignity? Why shouldn’t these people be stopped; why doesn’t the law impose restrictions on them?”
Violence to the point of death and silence of the director of Women and Family Affairs
Massoumeh Ebtekar, the regime’s director of Women and Family Affairs, has also remained silent on the matter, failing to tweet about domestic violence against a defenseless woman and Ashraf Sadat Hosseini’s situation.
This oppressed and injured woman has no savings or money for medical expenses and no government body has supported her, so far.
“We sold everything we had so that we could pay for my mother’s transplant and treatment, but costs are high, and we have to go back to the hospital and have my mother monitored,” said Alireza, Ashraf’s son, about the costs of his mother’s surgery.
15-fold increase in domestic violence during the Coronavirus pandemic
The brutal attack against Ashraf Sadat Hosseini, which left her maimed and paralyzed, represents just one of thousands upon thousands of cases of domestic violence against Iranian women, who have no legal or social protection. Violence against women in Iran is enshrined in law. Law enforcement officers are not permitted to intervene in family disputes, even those that lead to death. This situation has intensified since the Coronavirus outbreak, and the cases of spousal abuse have risen dramatically.
Hassan Marvi, head of the Mashhad Welfare Department, announced a 15-fold increase in spousal abuse following the outbreak (The state-run ISNA News Agency – July 9, 2020).
In a shocking revelation, Mohammad Reza Mahboubfar, an expert on social ills, stressed, “Less than three months since the beginning of the (Persian year) 1399 (i.e., from April to June 2020), statistics indicate that violence in the country has exceeded the total of all the past years” (The state-run Jahan-e Sanat newspaper – November 19, 2020).
The head of the Forensic Medicine Organization, Abbas Masjedi Arani, announced that 85,420 women had suffered spousal abuse in 2019. (The aasoo.org – June 30, 2020).
Throughout 2020, all complaints to the police were filed by women who had been beaten by their husbands. Vahid Soltani Paji, the social deputy of the police force, stated that most of the registered complaints were related to domestic violence (The state-run Borna News Agency – September 21, 2020).
However, it should be borne in mind that this regime has never been transparent about the statistics on violence against women and fails to provide accurate figures. In the final analysis, suffice it to say that Iran ranks first in the world in domestic violence against women under the mullahs’ rule.
“Now social damage has taken over the country and today, no house in Iran is safe” (The state-run Jahan-e Sanat News newspaper – September 19, 2020).
