The islamic republic has run a parallel, decades-long campaign of sexual violence against women held for political reasons, and it continues in the present.
Findings:
-
Allegations of rape and sexual violence against political prisoners began emerging in the earliest years of the islamic republic. Amnesty International documented a 1982 case of a young female prisoner who was raped by members of the IRGC while held alone in a cell, and beginning in 1985 UN Special Representatives to Iran started issuing regular reports on sexual violence and rape allegations in Iran's prisons. https://iranhrdc.org/surviving-rape-in-irans-prisons/
-
The most documented form is the rape of virgin girls the night before their execution, rooted in a belief among prison officials that executing a virgin sent her to paradise, an outcome they wanted to deny her by having her raped first. https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20231206-rape-torture-used-to-silence-iran-s-mahsa-amini-protesters-amnesty-says
-
To give the rape religious cover, officials would have the girl enter a "temporary marriage" (sigheh) with a guard or official the night before her execution, with a dowry, sometimes literally a box of sweets, sent to her family afterward. https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20231206-rape-torture-used-to-silence-iran-s-mahsa-amini-protesters-amnesty-says
-
This was not one official acting alone. Justice for Iran's research found the practice recurring across multiple cities and prisons, supporting the case for organized policy rather than isolated abuse. https://www.ihrr.org/ihrr_article/violence-en_sexual-torture-of-women-political-prisoners-in-the-islamic-republic-of-iran/
-
Hossein Ali Montazeri, Khomeini's own designated successor until he was removed in 1989, wrote in memoirs published in December 2000 that he knew sexual assault of girls in the regime's prisons was widespread and systematic, and that he tried and failed to stop the execution of women on this basis. He was placed under house arrest for years after raising it. https://iranwire.com/en/society/60172/
-
The regime's response to evidence has been consistent across decades: total denial, framed as a smear campaign run by foreign powers and opposition groups trying to delegitimize the government. https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmintdev/107/107vw33.htm
-
It took until October 2013 for the UN to officially break its silence, when Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women Rashida Manjoo cited Justice for Iran's research on the rape of female political prisoners, including virgin girls before execution, in a report to the UN General Assembly. https://justice4iran.org/6519/
-
During the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests, Amnesty International documented 45 cases of sexual violence against detained men, women, and children, and said the real number is likely far higher. The organization concluded that rape and sexual assault are still being deployed systematically by the regime to punish and silence detainees. https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20231206-rape-torture-used-to-silence-iran-s-mahsa-amini-protesters-amnesty-says
-
In 2024, the European Parliament passed a resolution by 562 votes to 2 condemning the islamic republic's escalating repression of women, including the use of forced psychiatric confinement against women who defy state control over their bodies, which it characterized as a form of torture. https://oeil.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/en/document-summary?id=1797577
-
No official has ever been held accountable inside Iran for any of this, across more than four decades. The same judiciary that oversaw the abuse remains the only body with the power to prosecute it. https://www.ihrr.org/ihrr_article/violence-en_sexual-torture-of-women-political-prisoners-in-the-islamic-republic-of-iran/
-
Two people detained in Kermanshah, including 16-year-old, were sexually assaulted in the january 2026 protests. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jan/19/iran-protesters-teenager-sexually-assaulted-in-custody-rights-group