Thousands of women in Iran remain out of sight jailed, tortured, and denied the most basic medical care simply for demanding freedom.
They are teachers, workers, students, women arrested arbitrarily for speaking, writing, or standing up for their fellow citizens. Interrogated, abused, and sentenced in sham trials.
Inside these prisons, torture is not just physical. It is the engineered decay of the body and spirit—filthy water, no ventilation, three toilets for dozens of women, stench, insects, infections. This is ‘white torture’ a slow, deliberate breaking of human beings.
After the destruction of Evin’s women’s ward in June 2025, detainees were dumped into Qarchak one of the regime’s most notorious death traps. A hall once used for drug-addicted inmates became the new home for political prisoners.
Somayyeh Rashidi, a garment worker, was beaten during her arrest. An epilepsy patient, she suffered repeated seizures. But doctors dismissed her condition as ‘fake’ giving her psychiatric drugs instead of treatment. After a final, severe seizure, she was left without urgent care. Ten days later, she died in a coma.
Twenty-three women have died in Qarchak this year alone. Dozens more with cancer, infections, or chronic illnesses are denied hospital transfers—punished with disease.
Their suffering is hidden. Their courage is not. Their voices must be heard.
