Shelters for Women Have Become Unsafe; Death of a Homeless Woman Due to Cold

According to Iranian media reports, the body of a 30-year-old homeless woman who died from severe cold was discovered early on Thursday, March 1, in the vicinity of the "Ayatollah Saidi" police station in Tehran. The website "Didban Iran" reported that this woman had avoided going to women's shelters out of fear of being taken to compulsory addiction treatment camps and had sought refuge at a BRT station, not realizing that the cold would take her life. The website stated that the reason for the fleeing and distrust of homeless addicts towards shelters is that Alireza Zakani, when he took over the mayoralty, formed a "social headquarters" to gather and forcibly treat homeless addicts, in order to "beautify the city." Consequently, this action by the municipality led to a loss of trust among addicts in the shelters, causing them to scatter throughout the city to avoid being caught by authorities and sent to compulsory treatment camps. This situation ultimately led to the death of the 30-year-old homeless woman. In this context, in August 2022, coinciding with warnings and concerns from the city council regarding the spread of addiction hangouts in Tehran, the director of the "Noor Sepid Hedayat" institute, which is a 24-hour harm reduction center for women, reported an attack by Tehran municipality officials on this center, resulting in the escape of its clients. Sepideh Alizadeh tweeted on August 3, 2022, addressing Alireza Zakani, the mayor of Tehran, stating that homeless women addicts who had trusted the municipality's shelters ended up sleeping in the streets and hangouts to avoid becoming prey to the authorities. She urged the mayor not to attack and not to create cases for the ineffective substance 16 camps. Substance 16 camps are government-run addiction treatment centers established for the compulsory treatment of openly addicted individuals based on Article 16 of the amended "Drug Control" law and funded by the government. In Iran, individuals who openly consume drugs in public places are referred to as "visible addicts," and city officials sometimes "collect" them under social programs. The promise to gather "all visible addicts" was made by Alireza Zakani during a meeting with the representatives of Tehran province in the Islamic Consultative Assembly on October 12, 2021. Additionally, Amin Tavakolizadeh, the social deputy of Tehran municipality, stated that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will play a role in the social domain of the capital's municipality, with "the IRGC, Khatam Headquarters, and jihadist groups" being stationed in Tehran neighborhoods to take on "social guardianship."