but cases of domestic violence are regularly reported and considered widespread in the Islamic
Republic of Iran.23 24 25 26 27 28
Complaints of violence against women are usually first brought to the police. Reports of cases
concerning violence against women have shown that there is a general lack of accountability of
perpetrators. 29 30 31 Victims 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.32
Furthermore, a woman can be given permission to leave the marital house only if she can prove
to a court that she is at a significant risk of bodily harm or faces a threat to her life and safety.33
When perpetrators are convicted, sentences tend to be a payment of diyah (financial
compensation)34 unless the offence is found to have disrupted public order and the safety of
society, in which case a prison sentence may be imposed.35 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 who had been hospitalised after her brother had stabbed her, was
murder by that same brother in the hospital.36 Reports have shown that police and judges
oftentimes consider domestic violence as an internal family affair.37 Police intervention has been
reportedly discouraged and parties urged to settle out-of-court. 38 39 State institutions and Iranian
authorities have been reportedly unwilling to investigate, punish perpetrators and provide social
services to victims of sexual assault or rape.40
23
Amnesty International, ‘Iran 2019’, https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/iran/report-iran/
Human Rights Activists in Iran En-HRANA, 2019 report, https://www.en-hrana.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/HranaAnnual-Report-2019.pdf
25
Human Rights Activists News Agency, 2019, https://www.en-hrana.org/increase-in-domestic-violence-in-tehran-more-than16-thousand-cases-were-filed
26
Human Rights Activists News Agency, 2020, https://www.en-hrana.org/domestic-violence-increased-during-coronavirusquarantines-and-stay-at-home-orders
27
Ibid.
28
IRNA, 2020, https://bit.ly/38UoMfB
29
Center for Human Rights in Iran, 2019, https://iranhumanrights.org/2019/11/stop-violence-against-women/
30
Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, 2020, https://iranhrdc.org/access-to-justice-for-victims-of-sexual-violence-in-iran/
31
Human Rights Activists News Agency, https://www.en-hrana.org/articles
32
“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/
33
Amnesty International, 2015, https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1311112015ENGLISH.pdf
34
Ibid.
35
Article 614, Islamic Penal Code (2013), Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/islamic-penal-code-ofthe-islamic-republic-of-iran-book-five/
36
Center for Human Rights in Iran, 2018, https://iranhumanrights.org/2018/11/iran-must-pass-legislation-to-protect-womenagainst-violence/ ; https://bit.ly/37POQrq
37
2019 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Iran, U.S. Department of State, https://www.state.gov/reports/2019country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/iran/
38
UN General Assembly, ‘Situation of human rights in Iran’ (para 32), 31 August 2015,
https://undocs.org/Home/Mobile?FinalSymbol=A%2F70%2F352&Language=E&DeviceType=Desktop
39
Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Country Information report, Iran, 2020,
https://www.dfat.gov.au/sites/default/files/country-information-report-iran.pdf
40
Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, 2020, https://iranhrdc.org/access-to-justice-for-victims-of-sexual-violence-in-iran/
24
4