‘perversion’, as it advocates against the use of violence against students and therefore may
discourage teachers from confronting students of diverse sexual orientation or gender identity.14
Students are reportedly physically and mentally abused by teachers and school administrators
because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity, pushing them in some cases to drop
out from school.15 In 2016, the Committee on the Rights of the Child specifically raised concerns
about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex children in the Islamic Republic of Iran
Iran facing discrimination because of their real or perceived sexual orientation or identity.16
The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and the Iranian Queer
Organization (IRQO) have documented a pattern of bullying and physical and sexual abuse of
LGBT children by classmates and school authorities in high school, middle school, and
sometimes elementary school. LGBT Iranians reported that from young ages, their classmates
would aggressively mock them for perceived gender non-conformity. Gay and transgender
teenagers enrolled in all-boys schools often faced sexual groping and assault by their male
classmates, as well as physical beatings. In some cases, LGBT interviewees reported rape and
even group rape as students.17 18 While some teachers and school administrators take measures to
confront bullying and abuse, often abuses are allowed to continue largely unaddressed. LGBT
students receive very little protection from abuse in schools. Moreover, according to testimonies
collected by IGLHRC and IRQO, teachers and school administrators participate in or lead the
abuse at times, often humiliating the students in front of their classmates for mannerisms seen as
improper for the student’s sex. IGLHRC and IRQO have also documented several instances of
sexual abuse and rape of LGBT students, namely in boys’ schools, by teachers and school
administrators. In these cases, interviewees often expressed that the adult targeted them because
of a perceived vulnerability or isolation, stemming from gender expression. 19
There are several means and mechanisms accepting complaints regarding the violations of citizens'
rights, such as the Parliament’s Article 90 Commission,20 or Oversight Bodies for the exercise of
Citizenship Rights in the country's provincial courts.21 There is no readily available information
that might suggest that complaints regarding LGBTI children’s rights violations are addressed,
investigated and adjudicated. Although the Iranian National Body for the Convention of the Rights
14
Quote from Assembly of Experts member Ahmad Alamolhoda, among other examples, cited in Small Media, 2018,
https://smallmedia.org.uk/media/projects/files/BreakingTheSilence_2018.pdf
15
Iranian Lesbian & Transgender Network (6Rang), 2015,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CRC/Shared%20Documents/IRN/INT_CRC_NGO_IRN_19808_E.pdf
16
Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2016,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC/C/IRN/CO/3-4&Lang=En
17
Ahmad’s (not his real name) interview with IGLHRC, September 7, 2012, Kayseri, Turkey
18
Nima’s (Not his real name) interview with IGLHRC, September 7, 2012, Kayseri, Turkey
19
See more: Joint alternative report by civil society organizations on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child by the Islamic Republic of Iran, 2015,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CRC/Shared%20Documents/IRN/INT_CRC_NGO_IRN_19809_E.pdf
20
The Article 90 Commission was established to receive the citizens' complaints against government institutions and has the
responsibility to review them and transmit cases for judicial procedure accordingly.
21
These committees have the responsibility to oversee the strict implementation of the "Law on Respect for Legitimate Freedoms
and Civil Rights”
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