Daughter assaulted by father for holding job at cosmetology studio.
In the bustling city of Islamshahr, Tehran province, a tragic event unfolded at a women's beauty salon. An 18-year-old woman named Fatemeh Soltani lost her life at her place of work, according to reports by Liter.kz.
IranWire reported that Soltani lived independently due to her father's persistent violence towards her and her mother. In a desperate attempt to hide her employment, Soltani's father managed to find the salon's address.
On a fateful Friday morning around 9 am, Soltani realized her father was waiting outside the salon. She frantically called her mother for advice.
Pardis Rabii, a women's rights activist, shared on social media that eyewitnesses saw the father enter the salon with a knife and brutally attack his daughter in front of employees and customers. He attempted to decapitate her, gripping her by the hair, but fled when passersby intervened.
Authorities apprehended the perpetrator and initiated criminal proceedings against him.
Despite Iranian authorities not disclosing official statistics on femicide, news outlet Etemad reported that 78 women were killed by family members or relatives between March and September of the previous year.
While the exact number of work-related femicides isn't known, systemic gender discrimination may increase women's vulnerability in the workplace. Factors like economic control, wherein restrictions on women’s employment and financial independence may lead to a reliance on abusive family members, and public harassment, where women in professional roles may face increased risks of violence, often unreported as family disputes, could contribute to this issue.
Organizations like Stop Femicide Iran work tirelessly to document cases, expose systemic patterns, and advocate for policy changes. They also raise awareness about legal gaps, such as the lack of protections against domestic violence, and encourage grassroots advocacy to empower women’s rights groups and pressure international bodies to hold Iran accountable.
Regrettably, no government-led initiatives to criminalize femicide or protect women in the workplace are currently in place. Activists emphasize the importance of international pressure as a crucial instrument for change.
- Reports by IranWire revealed that Fatemeh Soltani, the victim in the Islamshahr tragedy, lived independently due to her father's persistent violence towards her and her mother.
- Soltani's father, identified as the perpetrator, managed to find the salon's address to hide his daughter's employment, a desperate attempt to control her life.
- On a fateful Friday morning, newspapers around the world, including health-and-wellness, lifestyle, general news, and crime-and-justice outlets, saw headlines about Soltani's brutal attack at a women's beauty salon in Tehran province.
- As eye-witnesses saw Soltani's father enter the salon with a knife and brutally attack his daughter, the event served as a stark reminder of the importance of addressing family-dynamics and relationships in Iran.
- Soltani's tragic death and other similar cases have highlighted systemic gender discrimination that may increase women's vulnerability in the workplace, making it a significant concern for advocacy groups like Soltani's supporters and Stop Femicide Iran.
- Despite the Iranian authorities not disclosing official statistics on femicide, etemad reported that 78 women were killed by family members or relatives between March and September of the previous year.
- Activists continue to stress the need for systemic changes to protect women from domestic violence and work-related femicides, hoping that international pressure will ultimately lead to the criminalization of such acts and increased protections for women in Iran's workplaces.
