Tehran To Islamabad, When An Islamic Patriarchy Fuels Femicide

-Analysis-

There is very little distance between Tehran and Islamabad — when the law, tradition and religion, instead of protecting women, become structures for their oppression.

The murders of two young girls, Elaheh in Iran and Sana in Pakistan, are not separate incidents but the same tragedy repeated: institutionalized misogyny in societies where being a woman is an unwritten crime and the murder of women is not considered a social calamity but part of the order of things, and even protected by law.

Two murders, two countries, one system

Over two days, in two Muslim-majority countries that style themselves as Islamic republics, two girls were killed by men. Sana Yousef, an 18-year-old Pakistani girl, was shot dead by her cousin on her birthday, in front of her mother. The reason? “Rejecting a marriage proposal.”

Elaheh Hosseinnejad, an Iranian girl, was stabbed to death by a taxi driver after a day of work. The killer is said to have been previously arrested for violence but was working freely, without any legal obstacle. 

In both cases, the killers committed murder knowing for certain that they would face “no appropriate punishment.” There was neither fear of the law, nor shame before norms and customs nor any deterrence by the justice system.

Femicide: Individual violence or unwritten policy?

Violence on women in countries like Iran and Pakistan is not just an individual or family problem. It is an unwritten policy that is reinforced by unequal laws, discriminatory relationships and judicial silence.

In Pakistan, the system of “honor killings” is still alive. That is, in the legal, social and cultural structure of Pakistan, so-called “honor” killings remain common and are often forgotten with little or no real punishment. Cousins whose marriage proposals are rejected have the right to avenge their “honor,” even with murder. There are cases in which families or the local police not only do not condemn the murderer, but actually support him.

Women, meanwhile, are almost defenseless.

In Iran, Islamic laws like the qisas — the law of talion — or Article 612 of the Islamic Penal Code — concerning manslaughter or murder without the consent of the victim’s family — allows male killers to evade punishment by paying blood money or seeking the consent of the victim’s family.

Women, meanwhile, are almost defenseless against domestic violence, rape, sexual harassment and murder.

The triangle of violence: religion, law, tradition

One cannot discuss these murders without mentioning the structures paving their way. The laws of the Islamic Republic, with their inequality over blood money, martyrdom and inheritance, effectively consider women to be “half” of men.

In many of these countries, the patriarchy’s religion is a tool to control women: with provisions ranging from determined clothing to job restrictions and the justification of honor killings. 

Two lives taken by men who were given proprietary rights over women.

Tradition and customs also serve the same idea: women are “family property,” to be protected with obedience, chastity and silence.

A bright voice in the dark

Yet, amid the darkness, the voice of women’s resistance is making itself heard in both countries. In Iran, the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement showed that women are no longer willing to be victims. In Pakistan, female activists in the media, courts and on the street called Sana’s murder a “national tragedy” and called for legal reforms.

Elaheh in Iran and Sana in Pakistan: two lives taken by men who were given proprietary rights over women.

But the story goes beyond them. What links the two murders is a structure that sees women not as human beings but as “belonging to men”. A structure that sees murdering women not as a tragedy but as “a man’s right.”

And while this religious-legal-cultural structure persists — expect many more victims like Elaheh and Sana.