Dozens of women murdered by family members as regime laws protect killers and deny women justice and safety.
A new report by Etemad newspaper has revealed a shocking wave of femicides across Iran — between 45 and 62 women killed by male relatives in just the first four to six months of 2025. The report, published on November 8, documents multiple recent cases that reflect not only domestic violence but also the deep-rooted misogyny institutionalized by the ruling regime.
Among the victims were Shahla Karimiani, 38, from Mahabad, murdered and secretly buried by her husband; an unnamed 32-year-old woman in Marvdasht deliberately run over by two men; an 80-year-old woman in Tehran killed by her son; and Fereshteh Darban, 29, from Mashhad, whose burned body was found after her father murdered her.
Other victims include Maryam Jafari, 34, from Mashhad, killed by her husband after requesting a divorce; Reyhaneh Darzadeh, a 23-year-old Baluch woman; and Sajedeh Sandakzehi, 20, from Khash — both murdered by their husbands. In another case, Leila, an 18-year-old girl from Zanjan, was set on fire by a rejected suitor. Her brother told Etemad that the family had filed several complaints over the man’s threats, but authorities took no action “because nothing had happened yet.” He said, “Only after he burned my sister alive did the system begin to act — too late to save her.”
Many of the murdered women were mothers who were killed by their sons for remarrying after divorce or widowhood, with the perpetrators claiming to defend “honor” and “family pride.”
A Pattern of Impunity
Earlier, the Iranian Sociological Association reported 63 cases of spousal murder in the same period, suggesting that official numbers severely underestimate the true scale of gender-based killings. Etemad warns that “we can no longer tell women simply to be more aware of their rights — because awareness did not save many of them.”
Civil activists quoted by the paper pointed to a complete lack of deterrent laws. Under the regime’s penal code, men who kill female relatives often face no serious punishment. As one women’s rights activist from Marivan explained, “Many of us know someone in our families who has experienced spousal murder or faced that threat — but most of these cases remain unspoken.”
Another activist from Khuzestan highlighted the cultural and legal obstacles: “When a brother kills his sister, how can the father pursue justice against his own son? In our society, killing for ‘honor’ can even be seen as a sign of a man’s power.”
Etemad also noted that in just the months of September and October alone, dozens of women were killed by family members, with many cases either silenced by authorities or mentioned only briefly on social media.
The newspaper explained that most femicides are not even registered as such — they are recorded as ordinary murders, making it nearly impossible to track the real number of women killed in domestic violence. The true toll is therefore far higher than official data suggest.
The Regime’s Legal Neglect
Despite years of promises, the regime has failed to pass the “Protection, Dignity, and Support of Women Against Violence” bill. On November 6, Zahra Behrouz-Azar, the regime’s deputy for women and family affairs, claimed the government was “drafting new guidelines” to advance the bill — another vague pledge after years of delay and deliberate obstruction.
This legislative paralysis reflects the regime’s systemic misogyny: a legal and political structure that treats women as second-class citizens and shields their abusers. Under Iran’s penal system, men can kill wives, daughters, or sisters with reduced sentences or impunity if they claim to act “in defense of honor.”
Double Repression: Violence and Silence
Women in Iran face a double repression — both physical violence within families and institutional violence by the state. The regime’s laws deny them autonomy over their bodies, movement, and dress, while its security forces brutally suppress women who protest for basic rights. The same state that enforces mandatory veiling and bans women from sports stadiums also turns a blind eye when they are burned, beaten, or murdered in their own homes.
The rise in femicides is not an isolated phenomenon but part of a broader culture of state-sanctioned misogyny. By refusing to criminalize domestic violence and perpetuating discriminatory laws, the regime creates a system in which men kill without fear, and women die without justice.
When the law itself is complicit, awareness is not enough — and silence becomes another form of violence.
