Guards sexually abuse the wife of an Iranian political prisoner

Female guards at a prison near Tehran sexually abused the wife of a political prisoner under the pretext of a “search.” This marks a continuation of state-sanctioned abuses in Iranian prisons.

In line with hundreds of similar reports from Iran’s “Me Too” movement, the woman was stripped naked and subjected to verbal attacks and humiliation before the sexual assault in Ghezelhesar Prison near Tehran.

The attack was so violent that the woman suffered severe bleeding in addition to psychological trauma. A source from the prison’s inmates’ families association claims that this practice is commonplace.

From April to December last year Human rights monitoring And Amnesty International published reports describing “sexual assaults” by agents of the IRGC, the Basij, the Ministry of Intelligence and various police departments against women, men and children during the protests following Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody in 2022.

In May last year, several civil society and political activists recounted their experiences during detention or imprisonment, describing how the Islamic Republic’s security forces forced them to strip completely naked in front of guards or on camera, ostensibly to ensure that they were not hiding anything.

The Iranian judiciary news agency, Mizan, confirmed the occurrence of such Body searches Yet it was claimed that “no images were recorded or taken,” although Me Too has extensively reported that such searches are carried out under video surveillance by male security guards.