Iran's Parliament Approves Bill Making Failure to Report Child Abuse a Crime

On Sunday, August 7, the Iranian Parliament approved additional sections of the "Protection of Children and Adolescents" bill, which, if confirmed by the Guardian Council, will classify failure to report child abuse as a crime. According to the Parliament's resolution, anyone who is aware of child abuse "or imminent and severe danger against a child or adolescent" and fails to report it to "competent authorities" will be punished with a "sixth-degree" penalty. This includes imprisonment from six months to two years, fines ranging from two to eight million tomans, flogging from 31 to 99 lashes, and deprivation of social rights for six to five years. Furthermore, if this individual "does not have access to these authorities or their intervention does not affect the removal of the abuse and danger" and their action does not pose a similar or greater danger to themselves or others, they must prevent the abuse or its "escalation." If they refuse to take action, they will also face a "sixth-degree" penalty. The resolution also stipulates that officials responsible for reporting or preventing child abuse who fail to fulfill their duties may face two or three "sixth-degree" penalties, and in some cases, temporary dismissal from public service or prohibition from working in that job for six months to two years. The "Protection of Children and Adolescents" bill, consisting of 51 articles, aims to prevent "exploitation, abuse, and violence" against children and adolescents. On August 2, nearly seven years after the bill was introduced, Parliament representatives agreed to its general principles. Masoumeh Ebtekar, the Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, stated during the session that the statistics on child abuse and exploitation are concerning. The Parliament also approved that disclosing the identity of those who report child abuse without their consent is a crime. Additionally, revealing the "identity or information and secrets" of the affected child or adolescent or disclosing "details of the crime committed by or against the child or adolescent... in a way that encourages others, teaches methods of committing it, or causes any harm or damage to the child and adolescent or their family" is also a crime. The resolution imposes a prison sentence of "fifth-degree" for "contact sexual abuse" of children by "relatives or through violence" and a "sixth-degree" penalty for "other forms of contact sexual abuse." If confirmed by the Guardian Council, "non-contact sexual abuse by relatives" will incur a "seventh-degree" penalty, and "other forms of non-contact sexual abuse" will incur an "eighth-degree" penalty. Thus, the Parliament's resolution imposes heavier penalties for sexual abuse of children by "relatives" compared to sexual abuse by others. According to Sharia rules, relatives such as fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, grandmothers, grandfathers, uncles, aunts, and cousins are considered "relatives." The resolution also includes penalties for "sexual exploitation" and establishing contact in cyberspace with children and adolescents for the purpose of "sexual abuse or illicit sexual relations." Penalties include imprisonment from two to five years and fines for "fifth-degree" offenses, and imprisonment from three to six months, flogging from 11 to 30 lashes, and fines for "seventh-degree" offenses. Imprisonment up to three months, fines, and flogging up to 10 lashes are categorized as "eighth-degree" penalties. Reza Jafari, head of Iran's social emergency services, announced that by the end of last year, 27,500 cases of various forms of sexual, physical, emotional abuse, and neglect had been reported to social emergency services. According to statistics released by Hossein Asad Beigi, former head of social emergency services, typically 60% of child abuse cases are committed by fathers, and a total of 86% are perpetrated by parents, with only 1.5% of child abuse cases committed by strangers. Meanwhile, on Sunday, Saeed Hajiyan, the governor of Shadgan in Khuzestan province, reported that an uncle of a girl had been arrested for "assault" and "torture" of her. According to Mr. Hajiyan, the child's father passed away some time ago, and the child's mother has filed a complaint against her uncle. Several cases of child murder and sexual abuse have made headlines in recent years, including the cases of sexual abuse and murder of Neda, a six-year-old girl in Mashhad, Atena Aslani in Parsabad, Ehsan, a three-year-old child in Rasht, and Setayesh Qureshi, a six-year-old Afghan girl in Varamin.