Human Rights Report: Being Lesbian in Iran
October 2016 OutRight Action International, the global LGBTIQ (Lesbian, Gay Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer) human rights organisation, today released Human Rights Report: Being Lesbian in Iran.
The report finds human rights violations occurring in all areas of life for Iranian lesbians. The report reveals that state propaganda, censorship, and lack of access to information on sexuality and gender all contribute to severe legal and societal intolerance of lesbians.
Kevin Schumacher, prime researcher and OutRight’s Regional Program Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, said:
Lesbians in Iran live in very difficult circumstances. To begin, in Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, women do not have the same rights as men; they are inferior in the law. This inequality is even worse for Iranian lesbians, whose sexual orientation is criminalised by the anti-sodomy law. Society does not accept relationships between two women, exposing them to many dangers from their family and from the public.
The story of Maryam A., a lesbian from Tehran, reveals some of these struggles.
Maryam was forced to marry her first cousin when she was 14 years old. He was 22 years older. She faced abuse, violence, and marital rape from him before successfully convincing her husband to divorce her. She moved back in with her family, where she fell in love with a woman named Sara. Maryam’s family eventually stopped her from seeing Sara, causing them to run away together. Both women were soon arrested and charged with homosexuality. Maryam was whipped by the police more than 100 times, eventually causing her to pass out. After 10 months of physical and verbal torture, fear of being put to death, and physical assaults by other women who were incarcerated, Maryam was released. Out of fear for her life, she left Iran and applied for asylum in Turkey.
“OutRight’s report shows that lesbians are often forced into heterosexual marriages by their families. They face marital rape, domestic violence, and psychological harm in these situations. The law does not recognise marital rape as illegal and criminalises homosexual acts, while the police are known to harass and arbitrarily arrest lesbians,” says Jessica Stern, Executive Director of OutRight Action International.
Despite harmful laws, widespread homophobia, and the risks involved, many lesbians defy family and societal pressure and show enormous strength and courage by challenging the status quo through independence and activism. They hope that there will soon be a change in the right direction.