provinces, including 20 run by non-governmental organizations.47 48 49 The Government stipulated that there were 357 social emergency centres for victims of violence and 31 girl-only medical centres.50 The State’s Welfare Organization reported that shelters take approximately 2,000 victims of domestic violence a year.51 In comparison and as aforementioned, 16,420 cases of domestic violence have been reported in 2019, just in Tehran.52 Further, the existing shelters are generally located solely in major cities are reportedly poorly resourced and advertised and are unable to provide long-term support.53 54 C. The Islamic Republic of Iran should ensure that acts of domestic violence are effectively investigated and that perpetrators are prosecuted and sanctioned. Reports of cases of violence against women have shown that there is a general lack of accountability for perpetrators. 55 56 57Victims wishing to file a complaint for domestic violence must present two adult male witnesses to the assault, an evidentiary burden difficult to meet -if not impossible.58 Further, a woman can be given permission to leave the marital house only if she can prove to a court a significant risk of bodily harm or threat to her life and safety.59 When perpetrators are convicted, sentences tend to be a payment of diyah (financial compensation)60 unless the offence is found to have disrupted public order and the safety of society, in which case prison may be imposed.61 Additionally, the absence of laws providing for the issuance of restraining orders puts victims under the risk of abusers’ retaliation. In October 2018, a woman was reportedly murdered by her brother at the hospital where she was hospitalized after he stabbed her.62 47 See www.irna.ir/news/83656641/ Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, July 2020, https://undocs.org/A/75/213 49 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, January 2021, https://undocs.org/Home/Mobile?FinalSymbol=A%2Fhrc%2F46%2F50&Language=E&DeviceType=Desktop 50 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, July 2020, https://undocs.org/A/75/213 51 Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights, Centre for Supporters of Human Rights and Minority Rights Group International September 2019, https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1203136/download 52 Human Rights Activists News Agency, 2019, https://www.en-hrana.org/increase-in-domestic-violence-in-tehran-more-than16-thousand-cases-were-filed 53 www.hamshahrionline.ir/x66FG; https://www.radiozamaneh.com/488134 (in Persian). 54 Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights, Centre for Supporters of Human Rights and Minority Rights Group International September 2019, https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1203136/download 55 Center for Human Rights in Iran, 2019, https://iranhumanrights.org/2019/11/stop-violence-against-women/ 56 Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, 2020, https://iranhrdc.org/access-to-justice-for-victims-of-sexual-violence-in-iran/ 57 Human Rights Activists News Agency, https://www.en-hrana.org/articles 58 “The standard [of proof] for testimony in all offences shall be two male witnesses; unless in zina, livat, tafkhiz, and mosaheqeh which shall be proved by four male witnesses” Article 199 of the Islamic Penal Code (2013), Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, 2020, https://iranhrdc.org/access-to-justice-for-victims-of-sexual-violence-in-iran/ 59 Amnesty International, 2015, https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1311112015ENGLISH.pdf 60 Amnesty International, 2015, https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1311112015ENGLISH.pdf 61 Article 614, Islamic Penal Code (2013), Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/islamic-penal-code-ofthe-islamic-republic-of-iran-book-five/ 62 Center for Human Rights in Iran, 2018, https://iranhumanrights.org/2018/11/iran-must-pass-legislation-to-protect-womenagainst-violence/ ; https://bit.ly/3cI4iHK 48 5