In Iran, detainees are said to be mistreated to humiliate them, demonstrate power and force them to make false “confessions”.
Protesters in Iran have reported sexual violence used by security forces to force victims to make public “confessions”. According to reports, both men and women are affected.
The women say they were searched by male security guards on the way to the prison in the police car, although female officers were also present. “They searched us in an extremely disgusting way,” one of the victims told the Iranian newspaper Iran International. When she said that she wanted the women to search her, the officers told her to shut up.
Another victim says she and 11 other women were forced to strip naked by male officers. Then they humiliated her and “laughed maniacally”. Many of those affected said they had been threatened with rape or that family members were raped.
Hospital staff urged to cover up rapes
Armita Abbasi, 20, was arrested on Oct. 10 and, according to CNN research, was raped multiple times. Eight days after her arrest, security forces took her to a hospital in Karaj. Hospital staff confirmed that Abbasi had multiple injuries that indicated repeated rape. Security guards pressured health workers to officially attribute the rape injuries to a moment before her arrest.
Abbasi was arrested after publicly criticizing the regime on her social media accounts. Since then she has been in custody and, according to her mother, the trial against her will take place on January 26th.
Sexual violence as a demonstration of determination
Co-founder and head of research at a foundation for human rights and democracy in Iran, Ladan Boroumand, told Iran International that the government used sexual violence to show it knows no bounds when it comes to repressing the protest movement. The aim is to humiliate detainees and instill fear in others.
Human Rights Watch also documented serious abuses of detainees. Two women were beaten, sexually abused and pressured with threats of rape during their detention, according to the human rights organization.
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