Hengaw monthly report on women’s rights violations in Iran, October 2024
Hengaw: Monday, November 4, 2024
According to statistics compiled by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, at least six female activists were arrested, and 24 were sentenced to prison in October 2024. Additionally, at least 10 cases of femicide were reported in various cities across Iran during the same month.
Executions of women in Iran
In October 2024, at least five women were executed in Iran prisons, accounting for 3% of all executions that month. One woman was executed for drug-related offenses and four for murder in Tabriz (2 cases), Ahar, Hamedan, and Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj. Three of these women were of Turkish nationality. The identified individuals include:
1. Zahra Faizi from Tabriz (executed in Tabriz Prison)
2. Nasrin Firoozi from Tabriz (executed in Tabriz Prison)
3. Akhtar Ghorbanlou from Ahar (executed in Ahar Prison)
The identities of the two women executed in Hamedan and Ghezel Hesar Prison remain under investigation.
Arrest of 6 women in September 2024:
At least six female activists across various cities in October were arrested, constituting 12% of the total arrests. Two of those detained are Kurdish women activists.
The names of the arrested women are as follows:
• Bukan: Zahra Sajedinia, Maliheh Abdolghaderi
• Tehran: Motahreh Gonaei, Nira Behbood
• Khorramabad: Nasrin Shakerami
• Shiraz: Kosar Dehbanzadeh
Imprisonment sentences for women activists:
At least 24 female activists were sentenced collectively to 111 years and 16 days in prison in October 2024. This includes at least 12 Baha’i women and seven Kurdish women.
The names of the sentenced women are as follows:
1. Susan Hasanzadeh from Bukan – 3 months
2. Manijeh Khoshnood from Bukan – 10 months
3. Zahra Sajedinia from Bukan – 10 months
4. Mahsa Jalal Badi’i from Rasht – 4 years, 1 month, and 16 days
5. Negin Khademi, Baha’i activist from Isfahan – 10 years
6. Shana Shoqifar, Baha’i activist from Isfahan – 10 years
7. Yeganeh Agahi, Baha’i activist in Isfahan – 10 years
8. Parastu Hakim, Baha’i activist from Isfahan – 10 years
9. Mozhgan Shahrezaei, Baha’i activist from Isfahan – 10 years
10. Yeganeh Rohbakhsh, Baha’i activist from Isfahan – 10 years
11. Arezu Sabhanian, Baha’i activist from Isfahan – 10 years
12. Neda Badakhsh, Baha’i activist from Isfahan – 10 years
13. Bahareh Lotfi, Baha’i activist from Isfahan – 5 years
14. Neda Emadi, Baha’i activist from Isfahan – 5 years
15. Varisheh Moradi from Sanandaj – 6 months
16. Pakhshan Azizi from Mahabad – 6 months
17. Narges Mohammadi from Zanjan – 6 months
18. Mahboubeh Rezaei from Tehran – 6 months
19. Paryvash Moslemi from Tehran – 3 months
20. Zahra Rezaei from Tehran – 1 year and 2 months
21. Niousha Badi’i Sabet from Babol – 5 years
22. Sozan Eid Mohammad-Zadegan from Babol – 5 years
23. Maliheh Abdolghaderi from Bukan – 10 months
24. Solmaz Hasanzadeh from Bukan – 1 year
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.
10 cases of femicide in October 2024:
Hengaw recorded at least 10 cases of femicide in various cities across Iran in October 2024. Nine of the victims were killed by close relatives, including husbands.
By perpetrators:
• 7 women were killed by their husbands
• 2 by close relatives
• 1 by an unidentified individual
Of these femicides, two were reported as “honor killings,” while seven stemmed from family disputes. One woman was killed by a man attempting to rape her.
Breakdown of femicide by province:
• Lorestan: 2 cases
• Hormozgan, Tehran, Sistan and Baluchistan, Golestan, Mazandaran, Razavi Khorasan, Hamedan, and Ardabil: 1 case each
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 dataset, 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.
