Report on femicide in Iran (2022)

On International Women's Day, StopFemicideIran.org launched its first annual report. The 191 documented cases of femicide in 2022 equals 1 femicide every 36 hours. It is believed that the actual femicide rate is much higher than 600.

In about 20% of the cases, the perpetrators used their "bare hands" to kill the victims. The killers beat these girls and women to death, strangled them with their bare hands or threw them off buildings.

Family conflicts and quarrels (55% of cases) are the main excuses cited by the perpetrators to kill women. A closer look reveals that some murders stem from tragically mundane events.

In 20 cases, the victims' own children witnessed the femicide and brutal killing methods. For example, last November in Khorasan, a man allegedly beat his wife to death while his five children were in the house and then went to lunch with them.

While information on criminal investigations into documented acts of femicide is often lacking, numerous reports show that perpetrators were not charged at all or received minimal sentences.

Read the full 2022 report with detailed analyses at StopFemicideIran.org,
StopFemicideIran is releasing its first annual report.
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What is an honour killing?

An honour killing is a murder in the name of honour. If a brother murders his sister to restore family honour, it is an honour killing. According to activists, the most common reasons for honour killings are as the victim:

refuses to cooperate in an arranged marriage.
wants to end the relationship.
was the victim of rape or sexual assault.
was accused of having a sexual relationship outside of marriage.

Human rights activists believe that 100,000 honour killings are carried out every year, most of which are not reported to the authorities and some are even deliberately covered up by the authorities themselves, for example because the perpetrators are good friends with local policemen, officials or politicians. Violence against girls and women remains a serious problem in Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Serbia and Turkey.