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Iran: Reports of torture, sexual abuse of incarcerated women

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Cynthia Cave | Youhanna Najdi
January 15, 2025

Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi spent years incarcerated for political reasons. She and other human rights activists say torture and sexual violence against women are widespread in Iran's prisons.

Nobel Peace laureate Narges Mohammadi says she's writing a book on the torture and sexual abuse of female prisoners in Iran. The human rights activist has spent years in prison, and says she's witnessed serious sexual violence. Right now she's out on health grounds, but could be rearrested at any time.

Mohammadi's decades-long fight for human rights in Iran has seen her jailed repeatedly over the past 25 years.

Most recently, she's been at the infamous Evin prison in Tehran. Many reports have emerged from behind these walls of rape, sexual assault and violence used to break the will of political prisoners. 

The case in 2022 of Mahsa Amini, who died in custody after being arrested for allegedly not wearing her hijab correctly, highlighted the authorities' treatment of women. It triggered huge protests, giving birth to the "Women, Life, Freedom" movement. 

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