A rare admission from a regime-run newspaper highlights alarming rises in femicide, domestic abuse, and systemic discrimination amid the government’s refusal to enact protective laws.
A recent report published by the state-run daily Jahan-e Sanat has revealed a sharp and disturbing rise in gender-based violence in Iran, marking one of the regime’s rare admissions of a crisis it often attempts to conceal. The article describes a “cycle of discrimination and inequality” in which women face escalating threats ranging from domestic violence to murder, while the state persistently fails to provide legal protection or institutional support.
According to the report, at least 132 women were killed in Iran during the first six months of the current year. Monthly data show 17 killings in April, 31 in May, 23 in June, 23 in July, 23 in August, and 15 in September. Many of these women were murdered by close relatives, including fathers, husbands, and brothers—cases that reflect entrenched patterns of domestic violence, honor killings, and unchecked patriarchal control.
The provinces with the highest recorded cases include Tehran, Sistan and Baluchestan, Khorasan Razavi, Lorestan, Mazandaran, Fars, Khuzestan, and Isfahan. These numbers underscore a nationwide problem rather than isolated incidents.
Beyond femicide, the report highlights a significant rise in domestic abuse. Citing unofficial estimates, the daily notes that nearly 40 percent of Iranian women experienced some form of physical, sexual, or verbal violence during the first half of the year. This surge reflects, in part, the worsening economic crisis that has increased pressure on households, but it also exposes deep structural failures that allow violence to flourish.
Attorney and women’s rights advocate Shima Ghoosheh is quoted describing the situation as increasingly “worrying,” noting that conditions for women have deteriorated rather than improved. She attributes this decline to both economic hardship and a legal framework that is inherently discriminatory and, at times, overtly hostile to women. She stresses that Iranian women today actively participate in economic and social life, yet the laws governing their lives fail to reflect modern realities or ensure equal rights.
Ghoosheh points to critical shortcomings in Iran’s legal system, including the fact that divorce rights remain primarily in the hands of men, leaving women with limited avenues to escape abusive marriages. She also highlights the regime’s long-standing refusal to join the Convention on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, despite repeated debates in parliament. Efforts to pass Iran’s own anti-violence bill for women have stalled for decades, circulating endlessly among government institutions without ever being approved.
The state-run daily also acknowledges the absence of any strong, independent institution dedicated to defending women’s rights. The only official body—the Vice Presidency for Women and Family Affairs—has failed across multiple administrations to address violence or advocate for meaningful reform. This institutional vacuum, the report warns, has created an environment where perpetrators act with impunity, emboldened by weak laws and a lack of enforcement.
The publication of such a report in a regime-aligned newspaper underscores the severity of the crisis and the growing difficulty the authorities face in hiding it. Amid nationwide protests and expanding demands for justice, the escalating violence against women reflects a broader collapse of accountability and a governing system unwilling to protect half of its population.
Iran’s ongoing refusal to enact protective legislation, combined with economic decline and a discriminatory legal code, has created conditions in which gender-based violence is not only widespread but, in many cases, unpunished. The acknowledgment by Jahan-e Sanat may signal an internal recognition of a deepening social emergency—one that continues to endanger countless women across the country.
