Tehran Newspaper Reports the Murder of 78 Women and Girls in the First Half of the Year

The newspaper "Etemad" in a report titled "Brides of Misfortune" addressed the statistics of murders of women and girls for various reasons in the first half of this year, stating that during this period, 78 women and girls were killed by close male relatives. This government-aligned newspaper emphasized that this report is solely based on news published in the media and aims to examine the statistics of at least 78 women and girls who were killed by men close to them in the first six months of this year. According to the report, these women and girls were murdered in various cities including "Tehran, Ilam, Nikshahr, Arak, Andimeshk, Bampoor, Bonab, Marand, Salmas, Chenaran, Fasa, Yasuj, Siyahkal, Zanjan, Sib and Souran, Shiraz, Bandar Abbas, Beyza, Khorramabad, Sanandaj, Maneh, Abadan, Karaj, Qom, Miyandoab, Iranshahr, Talesh, Qazvin, Sangar, Sabzevar, Mashhad, Behshahr, Tabriz, Dehloran, Bushehr, Juybar, Semnan, Alishtar, Ahvaz, Bardaskan, Khomain and Falavarjan." The report writer emphasized that the dispersion of cities indicates that these murders occurred in most cities across the country and that femicide is not limited to a specific city or province. The report states that news of the murders of women and girls, often attributed to what is referred to in government literature as "honor motives" or family disputes, is usually not reported in the media and is generally more than the list addressed in this report. An examination of this newspaper's report shows that nearly all of these murders have been under the title of "honor motives." On July 22 of this year, the newspaper also reported that in the first three months of the years 1401 to 1403 (2022 to 2024), at least 85 cases of femicide were registered in Iran, with most of the accused being husbands. The report emphasized that in the first quarter of 1403, at least 35 women and girls were murdered in various cities in Iran. Based on the published statistics, the murders of women and girls in the second quarter of this year showed an upward trend, increasing from 35 cases in the first quarter to 43 cases in the second quarter, ultimately resulting in a total of 78 murders in six months. In Esfand 1402 (February-March 2023), the organization "Stop Femicide Iran" based in New York reported that in 2023, 156 cases of "femicide" were recorded in Iran, averaging 13 murders per month. Some academic articles and theses have reported annual statistics of between 375 to 450 cases of femicide in Iran, which in official government literature is referred to as "honor killings." According to the laws of the Islamic Republic, if the father of the victim is the murderer, he is effectively immune due to the blood right and what is referred to in Islamic Republic laws as "vali dam." In cases of spousal murder or femicide, Islamic penal laws have left loopholes that allow the murderer to be immune under pretexts such as "honor" or suspicion of "illicit relations." According to Islamic penal law in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the punishment for "murder" is "qisas" (retribution), but according to Article 630 of the Islamic Penal Code, "If a man observes his wife committing adultery with a foreign man and knows of the woman's compliance, he may kill them both at that moment, and if the woman is coerced, he may only kill the man." Civil activists and human rights defenders have been protesting against discrimination against women in the laws of the Islamic Republic for decades, and international organizations and the United Nations have repeatedly called on the authorities of the Islamic Republic to prioritize the repeal of discriminatory laws, a demand that has gone unanswered for four decades. Samaneh Ghadrkhan: The Islamic Republic uses the term "honor killing" to cover up femicide and girl murder. Hengaw's report on the continued violation of women's rights in Iran: dozens of arrests and 23 cases of femicide in one month. Femicide in Iran; a 17-year-old girl was killed by her father in Ilam. Warning from two human rights organizations about the "alarming situation" in Iran: immediate international attention is needed. Hengaw's report on "femicide" in Iran: 10 women were killed in 10 days. Hengaw reports that since the beginning of 2024, 347 prisoners have been executed in Iran. A 60% increase in femicide in Iran; human rights activists emphasize the need for awareness to protect women's lives. In the first three months of the last three years, 85 femicides were recorded; Etemad newspaper: the murderers are mostly husbands. Hengaw's report on the violation of women's rights in one month: at least 10 women were imprisoned and 15 cases of femicide.