Reports have shown that police and judges often consider domestic violence as internal family matters.63 Police intervention has been reportedly discouraged and parties urged to settle out-ofcourt. 64 65 State institutions and Iranian authorities have been reportedly unwilling to investigate, punish perpetrators and provide social services to victims of sexual assault or rape.66 Reports of cases of violence against women have shown that there is a general lack of accountability for perpetrators. 67 68 69Victims 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.70 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.71 When perpetrators are convicted, sentences tend to be a payment of diyah (financial compensation)72 unless the offence is found to have disrupted public order and the safety of society, in which case prison may be imposed.73 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.74 D. The Islamic Republic of Iran should also ensure that a husband is not exempted from punishment for voluntary manslaughter, in the event that he murders his wife on suspicion of adultery Article 630 of the Islamic Penal Code (2013) allows husbands to commit murder against their wife if the husband catches their wife committing a zina offence (adultery and fornication) with another man.75 Article 1105 of the Iranian Civil Code recognizes the husband as the head of the 63 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/ 64 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 65 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 66 Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, 2020, https://iranhrdc.org/access-to-justice-for-victims-of-sexual-violence-in-iran/ 67 Center for Human Rights in Iran, 2019, https://iranhumanrights.org/2019/11/stop-violence-against-women/ 68 Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, 2020, https://iranhrdc.org/access-to-justice-for-victims-of-sexual-violence-in-iran/ 69 Human Rights Activists News Agency, https://www.en-hrana.org/articles 70 “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/ 71 Amnesty International, 2015, https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1311112015ENGLISH.pdf 72 Amnesty International, 2015, https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1311112015ENGLISH.pdf 73 Article 614, Islamic Penal Code (2013), Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/islamic-penal-code-ofthe-islamic-republic-of-iran-book-five/ 74 Center for Human Rights in Iran, 2018, https://iranhumanrights.org/2018/11/iran-must-pass-legislation-to-protect-womenagainst-violence/ ; https://bit.ly/38U58jm 75 Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre https://iranhrdc.org/islamic-penal-code-of-the-islamic-republic-of-iran-book-five/ 6