Child Abuse, the Most Common Reason for Contacting Social Emergency Services in 2016

The Deputy for Social Affairs of the Welfare Organization of Tehran Province announced that the most common reason for contacting social emergency services in 2016 was "child abuse." Ahmad Khaki stated in an interview with Fars News Agency on Saturday, September 8, that last year there were 2,467 calls made to social emergency services due to child abuse. Khaki also reported that there are 6,500 orphaned and poorly supervised children in the welfare centers of Tehran Province. According to him, among the 3,972 street children with cases in the welfare organization of Tehran Province, 62% are foreign nationals and 38% are Iranian citizens. As Khaki mentioned, "With the interventions of the welfare organization and in collaboration with 40 non-governmental centers, 1,826 children did not return to the streets, of which 44% were Iranian." The Deputy for Social Affairs of Tehran's Welfare Organization also noted that the least number of calls to the social emergency service was related to gender identity disorder, with only 9 calls on this issue. In May 2015, the head of the Iranian social emergency center stated that out of 148,000 calls made to this center in 2014, 8,664 calls were "related" to child abuse. According to Hassan Asadbigi, 40 cases of child abuse are reported daily in Iran. Asadbigi also mentioned in July of this year that some cases of child sexual abuse remain hidden, stating that out of approximately 27,000 reports of child abuse to this center last year, about 2% were related to sexual abuse. He noted, "Unfortunately, some cases of sexual child abuse remain hidden within families" and "families are less likely to allow anyone to know about their child's sexual abuse and tend to resolve the issue themselves." The presentation of these statistics comes at a time when some government officials and child protection associations have repeatedly stated that there is no accurate data on child abuse in Iran, and many cases, especially abuse by parents, go unreported. For instance, Ahmad Shojaei, the head of the Legal Medicine Organization, stated in 2011 that "there is no data on child abuse" because "the child has no refuge and cannot complain about their parents, and families certainly do not complain about themselves." The Islamic Penal Code prescribes punitive measures for child abuse, including imprisonment for up to two years, and in some cases, the accused may face qisas (retribution). Siavash Shahrivar, the head of the social office of the Tehran governorate, reported in June of this year that for the first time, a plan for "preventing sexual abuse of children" has been prepared in Tehran Province and will soon be unveiled. This is while the issue of educating children to prevent sexual abuse has been criticized by some radical religious groups in Iran. While some government officials and members of parliament claim that part of the training in UNESCO's 2030 agenda is "aimed at preventing assault and protecting individuals' privacy," the implementation of this agenda was halted following protests from the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic and his close associates.