In the early hours of Monday morning (October 5, 2026), Maryam Yaramhammadi's life ended. She is a 28-year-old Iranian woman and mother of two children. She was stabbed with a knife by her brother, in collusion with her husband, on Qeshm Island in southern Iran. She was brutally stabbed all over her body and her breasts and genitals were mutilated. Shortly thereafter, she died in hospital. Meanwhile, her husband and brother were arrested.
According to media reports, about 50 members of Maryam’s family and relatives gathered in front of the hospital to protest the arrest of her brother and husband and demand their release. They reportedly considered death to be the “least punishment” that Maryam Yarmohammadi deserved.
It is not known what this young woman did and why her relatives considered her “guilty.” But the brutal manner in which this woman (28 years old), a mother of two children, was killed suggests that it was related to what are called “honour killings”, which are usually referred to as crimes committed by men under the pretext of allegedly “washing away the shame” that his sister, daughter or wife brought to the family. Otherwise, he may be rejected, humiliated, or ostracized by his social environment.
As for women who are accused of committing this, in most cases they do not get any opportunity to defend themselves against such accusations.
"Stop honor killings!"
Family and local social and cultural norms usually determine what is considered decency and politeness. In some traditional areas, even laughing loudly or having a friendly conversation with a stranger may be considered a violation of these norms.
For several years, women's rights activists in Iran have been trying to build networks across the country to provide advice, counseling and protection to affected women. Among these networks is the “Stop Honor Killings Campaign!”
Speaking to DW, the campaign's spokeswoman, Iranian doctor and activist Ridvan Moghadam, indicated that there was no activist or group in the region that could have provided support to Maryam Yaramhammadi.
At the same time, Dr. Radwan stressed that her words should not be understood as an accusation against female human rights activists in these areas. She said: “I myself come from Khuzestan Province in southern Iran, and I know exactly the restrictions that exist there.”
Through cooperation with civil society networks, the campaign was able in some cases to transfer threatened women to safe places and provide them with a safe haven.
Failure of the judicial system
It is known that Iranian laws are derived from Islamic law. In Iranian criminal law, the principle of “retribution” applies to certain crimes, including murder. In murder cases, the victim's relatives can choose between demanding retaliation, which in murder cases can mean the death penalty, or pardoning the perpetrator.
Such provisions reveal gaps in the protection system, which plays an important role in relation to violence against women.
According to a study conducted by the Iranian Police Academy in 2020, murders known as “honor killings” - that is, the killing of a woman by a male relative, such as a father, brother, or uncle, due to an alleged violation of social etiquette standards - accounted for up to 45 percent of the total murders committed in some traditionally conservative provinces in western and southern Iran.
In March 2025, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights issues in Iran announced that at least 179 women were killed in Iran during 2024 by men from their family circle. These cases were registered as murders of women.
When violence gains social legitimacy
The brutality of the crime that killed Maryam Yaramhammadi caused great shock within Iranian society. On social media, this issue sparked a wave of sadness and dismay. Many women commented on this crime, in which a woman was killed out of hatred under the name of “honor” and “shame.”
On the other hand, there were many comments that focused on blaming the victim and holding them responsible. Other comments spoke about “punishing a traitorous woman,” and wanted to know “the meaning of men’s anger.”
Within this context, Iranian psychoanalyst Saba Alaleh speaks about the existence of a social structure that has conveyed to men for years that they must control women and monitor their behavior and decisions, meaning that masculine identity is linked to “obedience to women.”
Violence becomes normal in any society when convictions combine and such thinking is normalized within the social structure, as Dr. Alala explained in her interview with DW.
She added, emphasizing: “When factors such as cultural, social, political, economic, legal and educational factors are closely linked to each other, they have enormous power. Women in such circumstances are also economically independent and largely dependent on men and do not have adequate social support. There are also no prevention mechanisms. All of this increases their risk of exposure to violence.”
Women fighting for self-determination
In an interview with DW, Atefeh Rangriz, a sociology researcher and women's rights activist, said: "Crimes against women have always existed, and we can also observe their political manifestations throughout history: from forcing women to take off the hijab and even putting them before the choice of 'either wear the hijab or receive blows to the head' in the Islamic Republic."
Atifa Rangriz is convinced that women know the path to liberation well, and despite all the difficulties, they have achieved a lot over the past decades.
Women in Iran have been driving cars since 1940. Since 1963, they have had the right to vote and run for political office. Women make up half of those with university degrees in Iran. The number of women who file for divorce or end their marriage by mutual consent is also constantly increasing.
The public image of women in Iran also changed following the emergence of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, which emerged from the protests that took place across Iran in 2022 after the death of the young woman, Gina Mahsa Amini, while in police custody.
Sociologist and women's rights activist Atefeh Rangriz says women work to focus on the present, rather than postponing justice to the future. They are now demanding it. They decide for themselves in their clothes and bodies, to live as they wish, and to liberate themselves from conditions of domination, oppression and exploitation. "This represents a radical revolution."
Many women in Iran no longer wear the mandatory hijab in public, defying the government's dress code. But rarely does anyone ask what young mother Maryam Yarmohammadi wished for and how she wanted to live. She was murdered very brutally.
