Femicide and honor killings under Islamic Republic law

This page records women and girls killed by relatives: a husband, brother, father, grandfather, or another family member. These killings are often called honor killings. The word honor is the name given to the crime. It is not a justification.

These deaths are not protest killings, state executions, deaths in custody, or massacre victims. They stay in this memorial, and they are counted on their own. They are not added to protest or execution totals.

How the law shields the killers

The Islamic Republic's criminal law enables and shields these killings. Article 301 of the Islamic Penal Code (2013) says qisas, retaliation for murder, is not established when the killer is the victim's father or a paternal ancestor. A father or paternal grandfather who kills his child or grandchild is exempt from retaliation.

When another relative kills, the victim's heirs can waive the complaint. Those heirs are often the killer's own family. If they waive, qisas is not carried out. Article 612 of the Islamic Penal Code (Ta'zirat, 1996), which is still in force, can then impose three to ten years in prison, and only if the court finds that the killing disturbs public order or that the killer or others may do it again. That prison term is not automatic. It can also apply when a father is already exempt from qisas. In many cases no complaint is brought, and no such sentence is given. The law treats the killing of a daughter, wife, or sister as a private family matter.