Trans-femicide in Fars Province – Sogand Pakdel, young trans woman, brutally killed by her uncle
Hengaw – Wednesday, July 23, 2025
Sogand Pakdel, a 27-year-old trans woman, was brutally shot and killed by her uncle last month in Kavar, Fars Province. The killing, which had gone unreported until now, was confirmed by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights.
Sources close to Hengaw confirmed that Pakdel, a supporter of the Women, Life, Freedom (Jin, Jiyan, Azadi) movement, was murdered during her cousin’s wedding ceremony, just days before the start of the 12-day war between Iran and Israel. Her uncle shot her at the event after repeated attempts by the family to prevent her attendance on so-called “honor” grounds.
Pakdel had long faced violence and rejection from her family, who viewed her gender identity and expression as a disgrace. “Sogand always stood up for her rights as a trans woman and for the rights of others. She had a resilient spirit,” one source told Hengaw.
Prior to the murder, Pakdel had taken refuge in a hostel in Shiraz along with other trans individuals from various cities. She was fleeing domestic violence and living in precarious conditions due to the absence of support systems and societal protections. Another source said: “Male relatives would repeatedly take her out to the desert and beat her. The last time this happened, she recorded a video and shared it, saying: ‘Let us live.’”
On the day of the wedding, despite the family's threats, Pakdel attended in her feminine gender expression. As the couple arrived, her uncle fired two bullets—one into the air and the second directly at her head—killing her instantly.
Pakdel belonged to the Galleh-Zan clan of the Qashqai Turk ethnic group, and her killing was motivated by so-called “honor.”
Hengaw warns of an ongoing, silent massacre of queer individuals in Iran, particularly trans people, who live under conditions of total pathologization and criminalization. Same-sex relationships are punishable by flogging and even death, and trans people, despite official claims of recognition, are persecuted under the state’s mandatory hijab laws, its binary definitions of gender, and pathologizing medical practices.
Under Iranian law, trans individuals are only granted valid identification documents if they undergo coercive and medically unregulated “treatment” or “transition” procedures, which constitute violations of their bodily autonomy and fundamental rights.
Meanwhile, no legal protections exist against domestic or societal violence for queer individuals. State propaganda actively promotes ideologies of “honor” and “male pride,” effectively outsourcing violence and murder to families and communities. Iran is one of the few countries where same-sex relations are punishable by death, and where trans identities are subjected to wide-ranging criminal interpretations under hijab enforcement laws.
Due to the systemic denial of rights and accountability, there are no official statistics on the number of killings, arrests, or punishments inflicted on queer individuals in Iran. Hengaw describes this reality as a form of systematic queerocide through state law.
Hengaw emphasizes that the murder of queer individuals in Iran transcends ethnic and social boundaries. While ethnicity may shape context, it does not explain the root causes. Research shows that in societies where notions of “honor,” “male pride,” and “family reputation” have been challenged through democratic movements, more effective strategies have emerged to prevent such killings.
