UNICEF responds to Romina Ashrafi's murder by her father: Iranian girls and boys must be protected from violence
UNICEF released a statement describing the murder of 14-year-old Iranian girl Romina Ashrafi by her father as "tragic" and "deeply disturbing" and called for the protection of Iranian girls and boys from all forms of violence.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) wrote in a statement on Thursday, June 29: "At a time when families around the world are staying home to protect themselves from COVID-19, the loss of a child's life in this brutal act of violence is deeply disturbing."
The international body stressed that “nothing justifies violence against children. All children in Iran – every girl and every boy – must be protected from all forms of violence at all times.”
Romina Ashrafi ran away from home after her family opposed her marriage to the man she loved; but she was handed over to her family by the police and the judiciary, and on June 1, she was brutally murdered by her father with a sickle.
In Iran, a bill to protect children and adolescents has not yet been approved.
One of the features of the "Protection of Children and Adolescents" bill, which was drafted in 2007, is the "criminalization" of any direct or indirect action that leads to harm to children; however, after amendments and approval in the parliament, this bill is still awaiting final approval and is sitting on the table of the Guardian Council.
The uncertainty of this bill is not the only thing that shows the lack of laws protecting women and children in Iran. According to the penal laws of the Islamic Republic, if a father kills his child, there is no retribution, but the general aspect of the crime, which is 3 to 10 years of imprisonment, is enforced.
Source: Voice of America
