Citizens of Urmia Gather in Protest Against Report of 'Abuse of a Schoolgirl'

Following a protest by a number of citizens in Urmia regarding the report of 'harassment of a schoolgirl by the school janitor', the governor of Urmia dismissed the 'sexual abuse rumor' concerning the 12-year-old girl, stating that school officials have confirmed the falsehood of the claim. On Tuesday, October 23, news agencies reported that angry citizens of Urmia gathered in front of the 'Shahid Rah' school in the Islamabad area of Urmia to protest against the 'harassment of a twelve-year-old schoolgirl by the school janitor'. In this regard, the Director General of Education in West Azerbaijan told Tasnim that 'according to the child's statements, the janitor hugged her and harassed her yesterday. However, the exact details of the matter are still unclear to us.' Fereydoun Mostafavi added that 'the child's father has given his consent at the police station.' Nevertheless, ILNA reported that the number of protesters in front of the 'Shahid Rah' school was increasing. ILNA quoted eyewitnesses as saying: 'The protesting people overturned the janitor's car and broke the school's windows.' This news agency also added that the governor of Urmia was trying to calm the angry crowd. Hours after this report, ISNA quoted the governor of Urmia announcing that the matter was under investigation and dismissed the 'sexual abuse rumor' concerning the 12-year-old girl. In this context, Abbas Hassan Khani, the governor of Urmia, told ISNA that 'due to the sensitivity of the matter, the police chief and the provincial education director were present at the school.' He added: 'What is clear is that the issue of rape and... has not been raised at all and is nothing more than a rumor, and the school principal and vice-principal have also investigated this matter and confirmed the falsehood of this claim.' According to Mr. Hassan Khani, 'investigations indicate that the school janitor made a phone call to one of the schoolgirls, and this matter is being pursued legally by the parents of this student, and even the father of this student has expressed his consent after the complaint.' In this regard, Tasnim also quoted the political-security deputy of the West Azerbaijan governorate denying 'the occurrence of sexual abuse in the incident at the girls' school in Islamabad, Urmia.' Alireza Radfar stated that 'initial evidence indicates that the janitor behaved inappropriately, but it is not sexual abuse.' There are no accurate statistics available regarding child sexual abuse in Iran, and the public dissemination of such statistics is considered a red line for organizations and media in the Islamic Republic. Only in 2012, Ismail Ahmadi Moghadam, the then commander of the police, reported the registration of 900 cases of rape in 2011, of which about 40% were related to women and 60% to men (sodomy). At that time, the newspaper 'Ghanoun' reported that in these statistics, 'sodomy' refers to the sexual exploitation of boys under 15 years old. In 2014, Javid Sobhani, a member of the Child Rights Support Association, stated in an interview with ISNA that '32% of middle and high school girls have experienced sexual harassment.' Officials from other provinces in Iran have previously announced the implementation of plans to prevent 'sexual exploitation' of children. In this context, the head of the social office of the Tehran governorate announced in June of this year that for the first time, a plan for 'preventing sexual abuse of children' has been prepared in this province. This official stated that the aim of this plan is 'to educate a large segment of the student and child community in the province to prevent and protect against sexual abuse.' 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 say that certain educational programs of UNESCO's 2030 agenda 'aim to prevent rape and protect individuals' privacy', the implementation of this agenda was halted following protests from the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic and his close associates.