Hengaw’s Monthly Report on Women’s Rights Violations in Iran - February 2024
Hengaw: Monday, March 4, 2024
Based on the statistics registered in the Statistics and Documents Center of the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, at least one woman was executed in the prisons of the Islamic Republic of Iran in February 2024. Also, nine female activists were arrested, and nine were sentenced to imprisonment by the Iranian judicial system. Last month, at least 20 cases of femicide were recorded in different cities in Iran.
The death sentences carried out for women in Iran:
Last month, at least one woman was executed in the prisons of the Islamic Republic of Iran, adding to the 22 women executed last year.
According to this report, on January 21, 2023, the death sentence of a 41-year-old woman from Tabriz named Hajar Atabaki, previously sentenced to death for drug-related charges, was carried out in Qazvin Central Prison. The news of her execution was announced in the media about a month later, in February.
According to the laws governing women in the Islamic Republic of Iran, women in Iran not only do not have any kind of protective law regarding domestic violence, but the text of the law itself approves the context for all kinds of violence, including sexual, physical, economic, and psychological violence against women.
Arrest of 9 women in February:
According to Hengaw’s statistics, at least nine female activists and one LGBTQ+ activist were arrested in different cities of Iran during February 2024. Among the arrested were a student and a journalist, with seven of those arrested already transferred to prison to serve their sentences.
The women arrested in February include:
• Nasrin Hasani from Bojnord
• Zhila Hejbari from Marivan
• A. Naroei from Zahedan
• Noushin Mesbah from Mashhad
• Mina Karami from Shiraz
• Roya Sabet from Shiraz
• Raufeh Mirbagheri from Ramsar
• Nahid Khodajo from Tehran
• Sarina Jahani from Shiraz
Additionally, Elham Choubdar, an LGBTQ+ activist from Urmia, was arrested and transferred to the central prison of the city to serve her sentence.
Imprisonment Sentences for Women Activists:
Based on statistics from the Statistics and Documents Center of the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, in February 2024, at least nine women activists in different cities of Iran, including Forough Taghipour and Marzieh Farsi, two political prisoners incarcerated in Evin Prison, were sentenced to imprisonment.
According to the report, these nine activists have collectively received 44 years in prison from the judicial system of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The individuals and their respective sentences are as follows:
1. Samira Ahmadi, a Kurdish activist from Saqqez, sentenced to 3 years in prison.
2. Fatemeh Sheikhi, a Kurdish activist from Abdanan, sentenced to 1 year in prison.
3. Forough Taghipour, an activist from Tehran, sentenced to 15 years in prison.
4. Marzieh Farsi, an activist from Tehran, sentenced to 15 years in prison.
5. Narges Mansouri, an activist from Tehran, sentenced to 3 years in prison.
6. Shakila Monfared, an activist from Tehran, sentenced to 15 months in prison.
7. Saba Azarpeyk, a journalist from Tehran, sentenced to 3 years in prison.
8. Kimiya Fathizadeh, a journalist from Sirjan, sentenced to 6 months in prison.
9. Sarina Jahani, an activist from Shahryar, sentenced to 2 years and 3 months in prison.
In the Islamic Republic of Iran, arresting and convicting women is a common practice of discrimination. The pressure on female activists increased during the Women, Life, Freedom (Jin, Jiyan, Azadi) movement. In its institutionalized form, the Islamic Republic has consistently worked to limit women's access to social, political, and human rights arenas. Gender apartheid policies in Iran are evident in the forms of sexual and gender segregation policies, as well as the criminalization of sexual and gender minorities' identities, which marginalizes them.
20 cases of femicide were recorded in February
Based on the statistics registered in the Statistics and Documents Center of the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, in February 2024, at least 20 women were killed in different cities of Iran, 16 of whom were killed by their close relatives, including their husbands, ex-husbands, fathers, and brothers.
As per the report, 4 women were killed by other people, 7 women were killed by close family members, and 9 women were killed by their husbands or ex-husbands.
According to this report, at least 4 cases, equivalent to 20% of all the women killed, were victims of “honor killing.”.
Femicide statistics by province:
Tehran province: 9 cases
Isfahan Province: 2 cases
Fars province: 2 cases
Lorestan province: 1 case
Alborz, Razavi Khorasan, Khuzestan, Gilan, and Mazandaran provinces: 1 case each
In any society, femicide is regarded as the most extreme form of misogyny. Femicide only makes up a portion of the murders that are linked to honor killings. Laws, misogynistic relationships, and patriarchy are the main causes of femicide in societies. According to Hengaw's human rights reports, there were 122 recorded femicides in Iran in the year prior, and a large number of these killings were carried out by the victims' close relatives. Laws and attitudes that promote misogyny and hatred towards women normalize the act of killing women, making it easier for predators to carry out their crimes with fewer repercussions.
