A Month of Horror: 46 women and 5 children killed across Iran, rights report reveals

STOCKHOLM — A new report has cast a chilling light on the scale of gender-based violence in Iran, documenting the deaths of 46 women and 5 children in just one month. The data, published by the Sweden-based Nujinha Women’s News Agency, underscores what advocates describe as an escalating crisis in domestic and state-sponsored violence targeting women. Ac

cording to Nujinha, the vast majority of the killings—40 women and all 5 children—were carried out by male relatives: husbands, brothers, fathers, sons, or in-laws. In addition, six women were executed by the Iranian state in cases shrouded in secrecy and a lack of judicial transparency. 

The report was compiled under difficult conditions, given Iran’s strict limitations on press freedom and political expression. Yet even with these obstacles, the agency says the scope of violence documented within just a single month reflects a dangerous and systemic trend. 

Among the cases detailed is that of Maria Abdulrahman, a 16-year-old girl who died by suicide in the city of Baneh, reportedly after enduring sustained domestic abuse. In another case, a five-year-old girl was killed by her father in Mehrshahr. These stories, Nujinha notes, are not isolated; they are emblematic of an unchecked culture of impunity and patriarchal dominance. 

The women documented in the report were between 16 and 40 years old, most living in environments where domestic violence is normalized and legal protection virtually nonexistent. The agency stresses that many victims had no access to support networks, social services, or shelter—let alone justice. 

Human rights groups have long criticized Iran for failing to implement comprehensive protections for women. The country lacks dedicated laws criminalizing domestic violence, and so-called “honor killings” often result in reduced sentences for perpetrators, especially if they are family members. 

While Nujinha’s report has sparked renewed outrage among activists and rights organizations abroad, calls for reform within Iran remain met with silence—or worse, repression. 

As the report warns, the killings continue. Day by day, behind closed doors and beyond the reach of law, women and children in Iran face a brutal reality—one that shows little sign of change.