Kurdistan Human Rights Network

Kani Abdollahi, a 17-year-old girl, was killed by her father in Piranshahr, West Azerbaijan Province, on 25 January. The tragic incident reportedly took place after the father discovered that his daughter had been in a relationship with a man. Local authorities confirmed that the father was arrested within an hour of the murder.

Two Kurdish women, Kosar Darabi and Zahra Shahbazi, have been killed by their husbands in Kermanshah and Ilam, respectively, within the past week. Darabi, an 18-year-old woman from Kermanshah, Kermanshah Province, was shot dead by her husband on 1 January. She had reportedly been forced into marriage about two months earlier and had been severely beaten by her husband before the killing, leaving visible bruises on...

A 40-year-old woman from Ilam, Ilam Province, was killed by her husband on 10 November and the authorities have arrested him on murder charges, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned. Colonel Khodadad Rashidi, head of the Ilam Province Criminal Investigations Department, confirmed the arrest and said the husband had cited “family disputes” as the reason for his actions. The forensic examination showed that the...

Janeh Choupani, a 22-year-old woman from the village of Kuzehrash in Salmas, West Azerbaijan Province, has been killed by her father on the pretext of "defending honour". The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that her father, Rouzbeh Choupani, strangled her to death in the family home on 27 July after a private video showing Choupani and a relative circulated on social media in...

A 31-year-old woman from Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, Ayda Heydarian, was fatally stabbed by her husband on 17 July, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned. Heidarian, who worked at the Red Crescent pharmacy in Sanandaj, sustained multiple stab wounds in the attack. Her husband, whose identity has not been revealed, allegedly attempted suicide following the incident and is currently receiving treatment at a local medical...

Maryam Razmjou, a young woman, her mother and her brother, were fatally shot by her husband in Kermanshah, Kermanshah Province, on 14 March. The husband was quickly arrested by the authorities a few hours after the shooting. Razmjou was a radio-oncology resident at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences. In a separate incident on 10 March, Ziba Sayyad, a 27-year-old woman from the village of Hasar-e Kani Spi...

This report details cases of femicide, suspicious deaths of women, as well as the arrest and imprisonment of Kurdish women activists and their removal from their positions between 25 November 2022 and 25 November 2023. According to this report, at least 23 Kurdish women were murdered by male family members during this period. The deaths of three others were also reported as suspicious and linked...

Trouskeh Abdollahzadeh, a 21-year-old mother of two children, was murdered by her father in Piranshahr, West Azerbaijan Province, on 15 October. The young woman, who was forced to marry her cousin at the age of 13, was killed for allegedly "having telephone contact with a man". Her uncle, who is also her father-in-law, was also allegedly involved in the crime. Abdollahzadeh was killed by beating, strangulation and...

Shahin Ebrahimzadeh, a 21-year-old woman, was murdered by her father and uncle in the vicinity of the village of Gulan in Sardasht, West Azerbaijan Province, on 5 October. According to statistics compiled by the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN), at least 14 cases of femicide committed by male family members have been recorded in Kurdistan since the beginning of the new Iranian year on 21...