Taboos of patriarchal society and honor killings

The murder of another girl by her father has once again brought the issue of honor killings to the media. The efforts of social activists to shed light on honor killings are being undermined by the Islamic Republic's laws that support a patriarchal culture.

It is important for the deputy social officer of the Kerman provincial police command that the media not publish false news in the Reyhaneh Ameri murder case. Colonel Kourosh Ahmad Yousefi told the Islamic Republic News Agency on Wednesday, June 19: “Reyhaneh Ameri’s father did not kill his daughter with an axe, he got angry and threw an iron bar at her, which hit her on the head. The remorseful father is currently in police custody.”

Reyhaneh Ameri, a 25-year-old resident of Kerman, was murdered on Tuesday night. Her body was found by police in the deserts surrounding the city. Instead of taking her to the hospital, the “remorseful father” abandoned her in the deserts surrounding the city.

It is unclear how long the young girl was alive after being hit in the head with a pole or axe. Iranian media outlets quoted Reyhaneh's mother as saying that she had returned home late and that her father had threatened to kill her.

Contrary to what Colonel Kourosh Ahmad Yousefi, the deputy head of the Kerman Provincial Police Command, says, Reyhaneh Ameri's murder was not limited to suddenly throwing an iron bar at her.

His murder is another example of honor killings in Iran, which in almost all cases are carried out with prior intent and planning, and have one thing in common: there is no institution to support the victims of honor killings, who are repeatedly threatened before their death.

"We are traditionally a patriarchal society," women's rights activist Asiyeh Amini told DW: "The patriarchy that we are criticizing in the law is rooted in our culture. We still face many taboos about women, such as talking about the female body or simple sexual education issues. The government has also continuously reinforced these taboos in society over the past 40 years, for example by prohibiting literature, art and the media from even talking about the female body."

Reyhaneh Ameri, whose many videos have been posted on social media, was reportedly a wedding dress model. A number of Iranian media outlets attributed Reyhaneh's father's "anger" to her work as a fashion model.

“Modeling” in cyberspace is a crime and is prosecuted by Iran’s cyber police. A young girl’s interest in modeling, like her clothing choices, career choices, and choice of spouse, is among the areas that the Islamic Republic’s patriarchal laws dictate, and she is considered an accomplice to a bigoted father and husband.

These laws, like the Islamic Penal Code, even if a father commits the murder of his daughter, still consider him a “guardian” and have not defined “retribution” for him. Not only the judiciary, which is an institution appointed and determined by the Leader of the Islamic Republic, but also the elected institutions of the people, such as the government and the parliament, make decisions in line with the patriarchal thinking that dominates society.

For example, the Women's Security Bill, which was proposed nine years ago by women's rights activists to provide government support for girls and women in the family and was finally approved last year with the name changed to "The Bill for the Protection, Dignity and Security of Women Against Violence," has not yet been implemented.

The bill removes many of the instances that were criminalized in the original text, such as sexual and psychological violence within the family. However, Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar hopes that by examining the bill, the government will find an answer to how to support victims of domestic violence.

In the first week of June, after the murder of Romina Ashrafi, Masoumeh Ebtekar had said that the government board intends to “quickly” consider the issue of the women’s security bill. On Wednesday, June 18, four weeks after Romina’s murder and the media coverage of two other honor killings, Ebtekar told Khabar Online: “The best thing we can do right now to prevent these types of murders is to expedite the implementation of the bill to ensure women’s security against violence.”

Romina Ashrafi, a 14-year-old girl from Talesh in Gilan Province, was murdered by her father on June 1. Her murder received widespread coverage in the media and press inside and outside Iran. Her brutal murder with a sickle was forgotten after a few days. Just three weeks later, Fatemeh Barhi, a 19-year-old from Abadan, was beheaded by her husband on June 15. The murder of Reyhaneh Ameri is the third honor killing of June 2020 that has been reported online.

The fate of these three people, who are among the few known victims of honor killings in Iran, has sparked reactions from many users and has once again fueled the discussion of laws protecting children and women, and safe houses.

Research by Amin Naja University of Law Enforcement Sciences shows that a significant portion of the murders committed in traditional societies in the southern and western provinces of Iran are honor killings: 39 percent in Khuzestan, 45 percent in Kermanshah, and 40 percent in Kurdistan. This figure is estimated to be around 30 percent for the entire country.