Hengaw’s Monthly Report on Women’s Rights Violations in Iran, May 2024
Hengaw: Wednesday, June 5, 2024
Based on the statistics registered in the Statistics and Documents Center of the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, at least four women were executed in Iranian prisons in May 2024. Additionally, 14 female activists were arrested, and 17 were sentenced to prison by the judicial system of Islamic Republic of Iran. Furthermore, there were at least 12 cases of femicide recorded across various Iranian cities last month.
The death sentences carried out for women in Iran:
In May 2024, at least four women were executed in Iranian prisons. Two were charged with murder and two with drug-related offenses. In comparison, 22 women were executed in Iran last year.
The executed women were:
1. Fariba Mohammadzahi from Zahedan, executed in Kerman Central Prison for drug-related crimes.
2. Razieh (31 years old) from Mashhad, executed in Vakil Abad Prison for premeditated murder.
3. Parveen Mousavi (50 years old) from Maragheh, executed in Urmia Central Prison for drug-related crimes.
4. Fatema Abdullahi (27 years old) from Neishabur, executed in Neishabur Central Prison for premeditated murder.
Arrest of 14 women in May:
According to Hengaw’s statistics, at least 14 female activists were arrested in different cities in Iran during May 2024, constituting 10% of all detainees that month. The names and locations of the arrested women are:
- Bukan: Hetav Akrami, Sosan Hassanzadeh, and Afsana Shahi
- Malekan: Farangis Fathi, Akram Kokhian
- Tehran: Matehra Gunei
- Piranshahr: Samiye Qadirpour
- Rasht: Nazila Khanipour
- Sirjan: Maryam Mahmoodabadi
- Isfahan: Sama Amoushahi
- Mashhad: Marzieh Momeni
- Chalos: Sudabah Wahabi
- Ahvaz: Sepideh Rashidi
- Mahabad: Zahra Nabizadeh
Imprisonment Sentences for Women Activists:
In May 2024, at least 17 female activists were sentenced to prison across various cities in Iran, including 15 Baha'i women in Isfahan and Kurdish journalist and women's rights activist Zhina Modares Gorji in Sanandaj. These women received a combined total of 101 years of imprisonment.
The individuals and their respective sentences are as follows:
1. Shirin Saeedi (Tehran): 5 years
2. Azita Rezvanikhah (Isfahan): 5 years
3. Sholah Ashuri (Isfahan): 5 years
4. Mojdeh Bahamin (Isfahan): 5 years
5. Bushra Motahar (Isfahan): 5 years
6. Sara Shakib (Isfahan): 5 years
7. Samira Shakib (Isfahan): 5 years
8. Roya Azadkhosh (Isfahan): 5 years
9. Noushin Hemet (Isfahan): 5 years
10. Shoorangiz Bahamin (Isfahan): 5 years
11. Sanaz Raste (Isfahan): 5 years
12. Maryam Khorsandi (Isfahan): 5 years
13. Firouzeh Rastinejad (Isfahan): 5 years
14. Farkhandeh Rezvanpey (Isfahan): 5 years15. Mozhgan Pourshafi' Ardestani (Isfahan): 5 years
16. Nasrin Khademi Qahqarkhi (Isfahan): 5 years
17. Zhina Modares Gorji (Sanandaj): 21 years
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.
17 cases of femicide were recorded in May
In May 2024, Hengaw recorded at least 12 femicides in various Iranian cities. Eleven of these women were killed by close relatives, including husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers.
As per the report, 7 women were killed by their husbands, 2 women were killed by their sons, 1 woman was killed by her brother, 1 woman was killed by her boyfriend, and the murderers of one woman remain unknown.
In at least three cases, the crime was committed under the pretext of “honor killing.” Seven cases were motivated by family disputes; one woman was killed to facilitate theft from her, and the motive behind one case remains unknown.
Femicide statistics by province:
- Razavi Khorasan: 3 cases
- Kurdistan (Sanandaj): 3 cases
- Ilam: 2 cases
- Tehran: 2 cases
- Sistan and Baluchistan: 1 case
- Mazandaran: 1 case
Femicide is regarded as the most extreme form of misogyny in society. 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.
