The death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran's morality police shook Iran and the world, but killing women in the name of “honor” often go unnoticed. The fate of women in Iran is a painful topic for society in the Islamic Republic, as demonstrated by the protests under the motto "Woman, Life, Freedom", which began after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini two years ago.
Over 150 women were killed in just one year
However, honor killings, in which husbands, fathers and brothers take the lives of women, rarely attract international media attention. According to the New York-based organization Stop Femicide in Iran, more than 150 women were victims of femicide in 2023. According to the organization, a quarter of them were committed in the name of “honor”, and half during “family disputes”
When it comes to “honor killings”, the perpetrators “are usually men who – often with the support of the whole family - they kill a woman who is a member of the family, because of actions that allegedly contradict social traditions, religious requirements or the reputation of the family”. “Such actions may include alleged sexual or behavioral transgressions, cases of incest and rape,” the NGO's website says.
Human rights activists in Iran warn that many of the cases of “killing in the name of honor“ are not reported in the media, so the actual number is probably much higher than what is publicly known.
Men cannot adapt to modern society
DV spoke with a sociologist from the University of Tehran, whose identity we are keeping secret due to security concerns. According to him, “the transition from traditions to modernity” is one of the main causes of heinous crimes. “The number of universities grew in the 1990s and women brought with them the changed values, as well as “non-religious thoughts and free choice of clothing”, says the expert.
According to him, the growing importance of social and virtual networks has accelerated these changes. At this point, however, the “honor killings” began, as men failed to adapt to these cultural changes and the transition from a traditional to a secular and free society.“
The authorities legitimize violence
Psychologists explain that children who witness violence in their homes are more likely to continue this pattern into the next generation. The repression that the Islamic Republic applies to those women who want freedom and refuse to wear the hijab effectively encourages traditionalists to use violence against their wives and sisters.
Iranian law follows Islamic Sharia. These rules often give fathers and husbands the right to decide within the family whether and how to impose punishment for honor killings. Activists, including the imprisoned Nobel Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, have long warned that the regime's laws violate women's rights and put them in mortal danger.
Killing wives for adultery is legal
Probably the most striking is Article 630 of the Penal Code, which reads: “When a man sees his wife committing adultery with another man and knows that the woman has consented to it, he has the right to kill both of them at the same time, and if the woman is innocent, she can only kill the man“.” According to this article, a similar type of “honor killing“ it is not punishable, and courts usually consider that there is “the presence of a respectable motive to protect honor” to acquit,” says lawyer and human rights activist Saeed Dehan.
Dehan warns that in the shadow of the Islamic regime, women's lives remain at risk. And that the government is giving men a tool to threaten women with. While the Iranian constitution mandates “all laws” based on Sharia and its norms, no reduction in the number of murders of women can be expected.
Authors: Elina Farhadi, Darko Yanevich