Iran: When honor is a death sentence for women

The brutal murder of a young mother has once again created discussions in Iran about honor killings, social acceptance of violence against women and lack of support for people at risk.

16/10/2026 October 16, 2026 The brutal murder of a young mother has once again sparked discussions in Iran about honor killings, social acceptance of violence against women and lack of protection for people at risk.

In the early hours of Monday, October 14, 2015, Maryam Yarmohammadi's life ended violently. This 28-year-old mother of two children was attacked with a knife by her brother and her husband in Qeshm Island in the south of Iran. His genitals were mutilated. He died shortly afterwards in the hospital. Both her husband and brother were arrested.

According to media reports, about 50 of their relatives gathered in front of the hospital to protest the arrests. According to reports, they believed that death was the "severe punishment" for Maryam Yarmohammadi.

It is not clear what exactly this young woman did and why her relatives blamed her. However, both the circumstances of the case and the extreme violence involved follow a familiar pattern seen in so-called honor killings.

In such cases, the underlying belief is often that the man must erase the perceived "shamelessness" of his sister, daughter, or wife. Failure to do so may expose him to rejection, humiliation or social ostracism in his community.

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What is "honor" or "proper behavior" is often defined by family expectations or local social and cultural norms. In some traditionally conservative areas, even laughing out loud or engaging in friendly conversation with an unrelated male may be considered a violation of these norms.

Women accused of such violations are often denied any meaningful opportunity to defend themselves against the charges.

For years, women's rights activists in Iran have sought to create nationwide support networks to provide advice and support to women at risk. One of these initiatives is the campaign to end honor killings.

Rizvan Moghadam, the campaign's spokesperson, told DW that there seems to be no local activist or group in the region that can support Maryam Yarmohammadi.

Through civil society networks, this campaign has in some cases succeeded in moving threatened women to safe places and creating shelters for them.

Emphasizing that the death of Maryam Yarmohammadi should not be interpreted as a criticism of women's rights activists in those areas, Moghadam clarified: I myself come from Khuzestan in the south of Iran and I am fully aware of the restrictions that exist there.

Iran's laws, based on interpretations of Sharia or Islamic Sharia, do not consider women as equal citizens in many areas of life. Their ability to make decisions about education, employment or travel may depend on the approval of their fathers or later husbands.

Even after a sentence, according to some legal provisions, male relatives can influence the criminal proceedings.

Iran's criminal law applies the principle of retribution in some crimes, including murder. In murder cases, the victim's relatives may demand retribution, which can lead to the death penalty, or pardon the perpetrator.

These provisions raise particular concerns about honor killings. A serious conflict of interest arises when a suspected perpetrator is also among relatives who have the power to influence sentencing or pardon decisions.

Such circumstances reveal the protection gaps that critics say exist in Iran's judicial system in relation to violence against women.

According to a 2020 study by the Iranian Police Academy, honor killings—defined as the killing of a woman by a male relative such as her father, brother, or uncle for allegedly violating social norms of modesty and family honor—account for up to 45 percent of all murders in some traditionally conservative provinces in the west and south of Iran.

In March 2025, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran reported that in 2024, at least 179 women were murdered by men in their family circle. These cases are recorded as femicide.

In the case of Maryam Yarmohammadi, it was more than anything else the extreme brutality of the crime that shocked public opinion. This murder caused a wave of sadness and anger in social networks. Many women reacted violently to what they perceived as a femicide, with hatred in the name of "dignity" and "shame."

At the same time, several comments focused on victim blaming, holding the victim responsible for his own death. Others described the murder as "punishment of a treacherous woman" or tried to justify it by "understanding men's anger".

Psychoanalyst Saba Alaleh argues that for years, men have been socialized to believe that they are responsible for controlling women and monitoring their behavior and decisions. He said that male identity is simultaneously tied to the "obedience" of a woman.

Alale explained that violence becomes normalized when beliefs, social approval and silence reinforce each other in this structure.

When cultural, social, political, economic, legal and educational factors are intertwined, they gain enormous power. In such a situation, women are also economically dependent and do not have enough social support. There are no preventive mechanisms either. "All this increases the risk of violence."

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Atefeh Rangriz, a sociologist and women's rights activist, told DW: "Femicide has always existed, and its political manifestations can be traced throughout history, from the forced veiling [under Reza Shah Pahlavi in the 1930s] to the slogan "Either a headscarf or a blow to the head" in the Islamic Republic.

Rangriz believes that women understand the way to liberation and have achieved success despite many obstacles. A significant progress in the past decades.

Women in Iran have been driving since 1940. They have been allowed to vote and run for political office since 1963. Women make up half of the country's university graduates. The number of women filing for divorce or mutually ending unhappy marriages also continues to rise.

The "Women, Life, Freedom" movement, which arose from nationwide protests after the death of Jaina Mehsa Amini in police custody in 2022, has further transformed the public perception of women in Iran.

"Women have learned to focus on the present instead of postponing justice to the future. They are demanding it now," Rangriz said. "They want autonomy over their bodies, to live as they want, and to free themselves from structures of domination, oppression and exploitation. It's a kind of radical revolution."

Many Iranian women no longer wear the mandatory hijab in public and openly violate the Islamic Republic's dress code.

However, hardly anyone asks what the young mother Maryam Yarmohammadi wanted or how she wanted to live. He was brutally killed.

This article was originally written in German.