Becomes a License to Kill

By: Rezvan Moghaddam

Date of incident: Thursday, June 19, 2025
Location: Razaviyeh Township, Mashhad, Khorasan Province
Victim: Hananeh Farjami
Accused: The victim’s husband
Method of murder: Strangulation with an “honor”-related motive
In yet another harrowing case of honor killing in Iran, Hananeh Farjami, a young woman
living in Razaviyeh Township in Mashhad, was murdered by her husband on Thursday,
June 19, 2025. According to informed sources, the perpetrator strangled Hananeh to
death at home, driven by motives tied to “honor.”
Unofficial reports and statements by local activists indicate that Hananeh had endured
prolonged domestic abuse and ultimately fell victim to the same patriarchal and
traditional structure that continues to justify the killing of women under the label of
“honor.”
honor killings in Iran often occur not only within the context of domestic violence but
also in the shadow of legal leniency and the complicity of patriarchal cultural norms.
Light sentences for perpetrators, the absence of protective laws, and the continued
legitimization of concepts such as “honor” and “ghayrat” (male zeal) create fertile
ground for the repetition of these crimes.
Despite repeated warnings from the Stop honor Killings Campaign about the
catastrophic rise in such killings, Iran’s Islamic Penal Code still provides no clear legal
definition or independent category for “femicide” or “honor killings.” In many cases,
killers are granted reduced sentences or even exemption from punishment under Article
630 or similar legal provisions. Hananeh was yet another victim of this legal vacuum.
Hananeh’s killing, like that of countless other women killed daily by male family
members, often husbands, is not merely an individual crime. It is the outcome of
systematic violence upheld by misogynistic structures. Repeated alerts from women’s
rights activists, frequent reports of domestic abuse, and civil outcries have gone
unanswered. This silence has effectively become a green light for the continued killing
of women under the cover of social and legal neglect.
Until the cultural and legal roots of these crimes are eradicated, our warnings will
remain unheard and women’s lives will remain defenseless and expendable.

Call to Action from the Stop honor Killings Campaign:
We demand:
 Immediate, transparent, and public investigation of this case by law enforcement
and the judiciary
 Disclosure of the victim’s full identity to engage public support
 Legal provisions specifically criminalizing and punishing severe gender-based
violence
 Creation of a national database of unidentified victims of gender-based violence
 Immediate passage of a comprehensive law to protect women against violence
 Education of judges, police, and media on the nature and scope of gender-based
violence
 Establishment of safe houses for women at risk

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