Iranian civil activists call for review of discriminatory laws against women
Following the death of a 22-year-old girl who is said to have been a victim of honor killing, a number of civil activists in Sanandaj held a gathering in front of the city’s courthouse to protest the increase in violence against women.
According to the human rights website “Hengaw,” these civil activists gathered on Wednesday, October 5th, holding placards reading “No to femicide,” “We are all Faezeh,” and “Nowhere is safe for women anymore,” to protest the rising number of women being killed in Iran and the failure of judicial authorities to resolve their cases.
Participants in this gathering, referring to the death of Faezeh Malekinia, also called on judicial and law enforcement authorities to investigate and clarify the cases of women’s murders in past years.
The human rights website “Hengaw” further reported that one of the protesters, in relation to the death of this 22-year-old girl and the negligence of police and the judicial system in pursuing her case, demanded a change in laws governing women in Iran and asked the Sanandaj prosecutor to “transparently and compassionately” take necessary measures in Faezeh Malekinia’s case.
In recent days, Dr. Iman Navabi reported the burning of this young girl by her father on his Instagram account, writing that after the father learned his daughter had a boyfriend, he set her on fire with gasoline.
Mohammad Jabari, the general and revolutionary prosecutor of Kurdistan province’s central office, however, stated that it is still unclear whether the 22-year-old girl’s father burned her or if self-immolation was the cause of death.
The general prosecutor of Kurdistan further described the publication of news of this young girl’s death by the surgeon as “a violation,” saying: “This person should not have posted it on social media when nothing was yet determined. We have reported this matter to medical system officials so they can put it on the agenda of the disciplinary committee and take necessary action.”
Regarding the publication of this news, Dr. Navabi stated that he accepts responsibility for the action he took and that his action was “supporting the voice of an oppressed person who had no one to respond to her cry.” He also said that some posts on his account have been removed from access for unknown reasons.
This is not the first time reports of violence against women in Iran have been published. Last year, multiple reports of violence against women and honor killings, including the beheading of Romina Ashrafi, a 13-year-old girl from Talesh by her father, the killing of Reyhaneh Ameri, a 22-year-old girl from Kerman, by her father with an iron rod, and the killing of Fatema Farahi in Abadan by her husband, who was also her cousin, made headlines in Iran.
In July of this year, a 16-year-old girl in Kermanshah was brutally stabbed to death by her father for coming home late.
Civil rights and human rights activists have been calling for years for the Islamic Republic to pass a bill to prevent violence against women as soon as possible.
Under Iranian law, according to Article 612 of the Islamic Penal Code, a father who kills his child does not face retaliation and, if convicted in court, is only sentenced to payment of compensation (diyeh) and imprisonment of up to ten years.
Source: Voice of America
