“Campaign to Prevent Domestic Violence” began in Azar 1395 (November 2016) on the eve of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women by a group of women’s rights activists. This campaign aims to raise awareness in society about the issue of domestic violence against women and collects testimonies from women who have experienced violence and witnesses of domestic violence, as well as gathering opinions from individuals, especially women who have experienced violence, to draft a law to prevent domestic violence against women.

After one year of its establishment, this campaign has published its report on domestic violence against women in Iran during a ceremony in the city of Rasht. On the occasion of releasing this report, we have interviewed Farough Saminia, one of the activists of the campaign to prevent domestic violence in Gilan province, and asked her about the details of the campaign’s activities and the results achieved.

The campaign to prevent domestic violence has been active in several cities in the past year. Generally, what topics are covered in the workshops that have been held?

The campaign has been more active in the provinces of Tehran, Alborz, and Gilan in the past year than in other regions. However, reports from other cities also indicate smaller activities in other areas. Workshops are often held in three parts. The first part examines accounts of violence and familiarizes participants with instances of violence. In this section, a unified definition of violence is also obtained from the participants. The second part discusses the existing laws in Iran and their shortcomings, and collects the opinions of participants on important topics such as the draft law on the prevention of domestic violence against women, including the definition of different types of violence, the responsibilities of judicial bodies, etc. The third part focuses on the importance of speaking out against violence. Finally, participants share their own accounts of violence or write them on campaign cards. These workshops may vary depending on the participants’ circumstances. For example, a workshop for illiterate and literate individuals, such as counselors, lawyers, and teachers, will

How many reports have been collected so far by this campaign and what is the process for obtaining them? Are these reports mostly related to post-training and educating citizens? And are the victims mostly the narrators themselves?

“منظورهای مختلف درباره زندگی وجود دارد، اما هدف همیشگی آن است که زندگی را بهتر کنیم.”

“There are different perspectives about life, but the ultimate goal is to make life better.”
The ceremony of the anniversary of the campaign against domestic violence.

So far, approximately 240 accounts have been collected, some of which are personal accounts and others are witness accounts or from informed individuals. The accounts from women (and some men) were primarily obtained through educational-promotional workshops and then through information networks, and some were also obtained through field conversations.

The report published on the anniversary of the campaign to prevent domestic violence shows that only 13.9% of women received support from their families after experiencing violence. How crucial do you consider the role of family support? In comparison to the support provided by laws in many countries, how significant can this support be?

In traditional societies, the family plays an important role in an individual’s life and in the absence of supportive laws, the role of families becomes even more prominent. However, the issue of domestic violence is often silenced by families, as it is related to matters such as honor and preserving privacy in traditional societies. Naturally, a law that is characterized by specific conditions such as promoting, supportive, and mandatory measures can play a significant role in reducing domestic violence, as families do not possess such power and awareness.

This report identifies the most common type of domestic violence against women as psychological and verbal violence, while the least common is reported to be sexual violence. According to available accounts of witnesses, psychological and verbal violence mostly includes what types of behaviors, and what is your analysis of the fact that while the level of this violence is so high, sexual and even physical violence accounts for a lower percentage?

In this study, out of every 4 reports, 3 reports contained this type of violence (74.5%). Initially, attempts were made to identify cases through definitions obtained from other studies. Specifically, the definition of types of violence in the National Survey on Domestic Violence against Women in 28 provinces of the country in 1383 (2004-2005) was used, in which psychological and verbal violence includes behaviors defined as violent that undermine a woman’s dignity, honor, and self-confidence. These include: using vulgar language, constant insults, belittling, mocking, creating a sense of helplessness – in a way that the individual feels they have no role in decision-making and lack control over their own life – accusing the person of having relationships with others, doubt and suspicion, and checking their phone and personal belongings. There are also various threats and creating danger, such as threatening to leave the house or harm oneself, threatening to harm or kill the person in front of them or

Many instances of the above were observed among the sent reports to the campaign, including: insults, anger and expulsion, humiliation, slander and false accusations, doubt and suspicion, control, deprivation of decision-making in personal life, threats to the woman and her family, threats of divorce, relationships with other women, interference in the marital life of children, neglecting the spouse and feeling discrimination between daughter and son.

According to your research and observations, to what extent are women willing to speak out about domestic violence against themselves?

We have had a lot of experience in organizing domestic violence workshops before this campaign. However, it seems that women are more willing to talk now, especially since this conversation has been emphasized in this campaign and sharing any stories from women breaks the taboo of talking about personal experiences in this matter. Although women are still not comfortable talking about how to talk, they mostly refer to themselves in third person when something has happened to them. But when they have paper in hand, they can write about their experience more easily. However, talking about certain types of violence, such as sexual violence, is still taboo. As you can see, a low percentage have mentioned it.

Sociological studies on traditional societies show that some powerful women in the family have a prominent role in perpetrating verbal violence against other women. Do reports also highlight such cases, or are most instances of violence carried out by male family members?

You pointed out a very important point. Among the narratives, when we delve deeper, we see complex power dynamics. For example, women who have a better financial situation, we see in their own narratives that they have used verbal violence against their husbands who have a lower financial status. The family of a man who is violent – especially his mother – plays a significant role in supporting him to continue his behavior. Many cases of involvement of the mother, sister, brother, and father-in-law have been mentioned, but the role of the mother-in-law has been particularly prominent and not necessarily only psychological-verbal, but also physical violence has been reported from the mother-in-law. There have been mothers who have helped their son to throw his wife out of the house or beat her. Or in a narrative, the man would put his wife in front of his own family and his mother would make sure she wouldn’t leave the house. While in some narratives, there has been a specific mention of violence from

In general, what are the features of the draft law on domestic violence prevention that distinguish it from current laws in this area? In fact, what does this draft emphasize on that highlights its importance?

First of all, current laws regarding domestic violence have remained silent and do not even address it as a form of violence, similar to how it is dealt with in public. When the police enter the home, they are told it is a personal dispute and sometimes the police report is not even filed. I would like to bring your attention to a report from Tehran: “My friend was physically abused by her husband, even though the police arrived at 2 AM and saw the blood on her face. But the next day at court, the police asked her to provide a witness, at 2 AM when it was just her, her husband, and the police. And due to the lack of a witness, the case was closed.” Therefore, it is not possible to compare this draft with unwritten laws. However, there were several approaches in writing this draft that, even if the authors were unable to achieve, they had considered and in fact, this approach has become the basis for the law,

First of all, in defining violence, it must be “inclusive”. In the proposed law, not only hitting a woman is a criminal act, but also insulting, humiliating, and accusing her is not a small matter, but a criminal act. It is not a sign of love to constantly monitor and pursue someone, but it is considered violence. In marriage, a man does not have the right to engage in any sexual behavior with a woman without her consent. Women also have the right to leave their homes at any time for work, education, visiting friends or relatives, social activities, etc., and depriving them of this right should be considered a crime according to the law.

Secondly, the law must “support” victims of violence. This law identifies institutions and individuals who can assist victims of violence free of charge. They must be fully aware of their legal rights and have someone to consult with and help them in reporting the violence. Responsible organizations must have female employees to handle cases of violence, who are fluent in the victim’s native language or the language in which the violence occurred. The situation of the victim may be so critical that they feel unsafe staying in their own home. Safe houses are places that provide shelter to women who have experienced violence, and they also have a duty to help them regain their physical and mental health and increase their strength.

Third – And in my opinion, the most important approach of this law is “restorative”. Experience has shown that restorative justice is much more effective than punitive justice; because it deals with the human perpetrator. Many perpetrators continue the cycle of violence and harm others; often they have experienced violence in their childhood and have grown up with violence and have learned to abuse their power. Therefore, they need treatment and re-education. In this approach, the victim, the perpetrator, and the harm are all addressed simultaneously. So while supporting the victim, if the perpetrator needs treatment, they will receive it, and more importantly, the perpetrator must compensate for the harm they have caused. Overall, in our view, the goal of enacting a law against domestic violence is not to promote revenge or encourage women to retaliate; the goal is to stop the violence as soon as possible and ensure the safety of the victim. For example, the perpetrator should be prohibited from approaching the victim’s residence, workplace,

In your campaign activities, you have considered a significant contribution to artistic activities, including the production and screening of short films, which can be considered unparalleled in our country in the field of civil activities. What is your intention in including such activities in this campaign?

This is an image caption.

این عنوان تصویر است.

This is an image caption.
Performance about violence against women that was showcased during the anniversary of the campaign to end domestic violence.

Artistic activities such as films and short plays can have a greater impact on people. Nowadays, with the rise of social media and the massive amount of information that people receive daily, short films can have a better chance of winning in this competition and attract and influence the audience. In addition, volunteers can have more connections with artistic communities through this medium – that is, through the language of art.

The campaign against domestic violence, for what purpose or purposes has it extended its activities for another year?

The campaign initially began with the goal of completing a legal draft that had been prepared by a group of lawyers. The campaign aims to complete the law with the input of experts and people from all over the country, as well as by holding workshops, face-to-face discussions, and distributing brochures, etc., in an effort to promote the demand for a law against domestic violence in Iran. In these workshops and discussions, people’s opinions will be collected in a simple and accessible language and provided to the lawyers to complete the legal draft. Even several Muslim countries and neighboring countries have passed such a law. The publicizing of this demand and the collection of stories of violence from people will demonstrate the necessity of passing this law and completing the legal draft, which will require time to be fulfilled. In the first year of the campaign’s activity, great efforts were made to achieve this goal, but after one year, the campaign activists gathered and extended its duration for another year, in order to get closer to

How do you evaluate the reception of citizens and civil society towards this campaign after one year? Are you hopeful that officials will pay attention to your campaign and its plans?

The atmosphere of despair and hopelessness that dominates society is incomparable to previous years in Iran. However, even in this atmosphere, the desired campaign has gained attention from the people and civil activists. Essentially, because the desired campaign is intertwined with people’s lives and almost the majority of individuals have experienced violence in their homes or from their relatives, denying domestic violence is somewhat impossible. As a result, the introduction of this issue has been met with acceptance. As for the second part of your question, I must say that the campaign has always believed in pressuring the authorities to pass this law by making the demand public, and in fact, we intend to pass this law by pressuring from below. And of course, we hope that with the desire of the people and highlighting the issue of violence against women in families, the authorities will also pay attention to this issue.

Thank you for the opportunity you have given us.