Nasim Ahmadi

Kermashan — Within Iran’s power structure, media workers face strict restrictions designed to control the flow of information and prevent its free circulation. These restrictions become even harsher when the journalist is a woman. In cities like Kermashan, in Eastern Kurdistan, women in the media face a mix of political repression, gender-based discrimination, and security threats — forcing many into silence or withdrawal from journalism altogether.

In Kermashan, many women journalists have faced harassment simply for covering issues such as women’s rights or domestic violence — even for reporting on small cultural events. This has led to repeated summons, informal interrogations, and threats of dismissal or arrest. Some have resorted to using pseudonyms, while others have abandoned journalism entirely.

 

“Power and Censorship: The Iranian Regime’s Strategy to Silence Women”

In recent years, an increasing number of women journalists have been forced to leave the country due to ongoing harassment. Authorities use both internal displacement and exile as tools to effectively erase them from the media landscape.

The 2024 annual report of the Defense for Free Flow of Information in Iran (DEFFI) documented widespread repression against journalists under a state policy aimed at silencing independent voices and suppressing free information.

According to the report, around 256 journalists and media institutions in Iran faced harsh judicial measures — including imprisonment, flogging, and bans on media activity — amounting to nearly 70 years of total prison sentences and 110 lashes collectively.

Among the most common charges is “spreading lies,” used against prominent women journalists such as Elaheh Mohammadi, Niloufar Hamedi, Bakhshan Azizi, Saba Azarbak, and Kimia Fathizadeh, some of whom were sentenced to long prison terms, execution, or heavy fines — reflecting the regime’s relentless efforts to silence independent female voices.

Recently, the home of journalist Marzieh Rasouli, producer of the podcast Radio Marz, was raided by security forces without explanation.

According to Reporters Without Borders’ 2024 World Press Freedom Index, Iran now ranks 176th out of 180 countries — a stark reflection of the tightening restrictions on journalists and the climate of fear under which they work.

UNESCO reports show that over 70% of women journalists worldwide face online threats — a finding confirmed by a joint study with the International Federation of Journalists, which revealed that women experience higher levels of digital violence than men.

 

“My Silence Is Not a Choice, but Fear for My Loved Ones”

Shiler H., from Kermashan, was banned from journalism in 2019 by the Revolutionary Court. She recounts:

“That ruling changed my life completely. My family paid the price too — endless phone calls, unjustified summons, open and covert threats, and bans from many places. I was condemned to silence, not out of conviction, but out of fear for those I love. Every time I tried to write, a voice inside me whispered, ‘What will happen to your mother? Your brother?’ This fear clings to me like a heavy shadow, forcing me to surrender to an imposed reality.”

Over the years, Iran has followed a systematic policy to silence journalists — not only through direct repression and imprisonment but also by targeting their families. This strategy seeks to create an atmosphere of fear and psychological distress, deterring journalists and media activists from continuing their work. Families often become tools of coercion through interrogations, threats, or deprivation of basic rights.

 

“I Left Iran, But They Can’t Silence My Truth”

Shirin Ahmadi (pseudonym), a former journalist from Kermashan, was forced to flee Iran more than 15 years ago due to persistent security pressure.

“I left after repeated interrogations and threats, hoping to continue my work freely abroad. But soon, harassment reached my family back home. Even after I stopped working, the pressure didn’t end — I’d receive phone calls from home with an unfamiliar man’s voice saying, ‘Your family are our guests. We need to talk about your activities.’ Out of fear for their safety, I had to comply. Since then, I’ve been unable to continue any journalistic work.”

Her story, like that of many others, shows how Iran’s repression extends beyond its borders, using digital harassment and intimidation to silence exiled journalists. The strategy enforces silence not only through imprisonment and censorship but through persistent psychological pressure — a reminder that for Iranian women, even distance offers no escape.

 

“Every Message Was an Attempt to Humiliate Me — But I Still Resist”

In Iran, women journalists are systematically harassed online by the regime to silence them.
Farnaz Q., a former journalist, was arrested in November 2019 during nationwide protests:

“After my release, I found a fabricated article accusing me of faking my arrest to flee the country with a boyfriend — though I was married and a mother. Then came daily abusive messages online, reposting my old photos and mocking my body. The goal was clear: to humiliate me into silence and drive me out of journalism.”

Targeting women journalists and forcing them out of the media field is one of the Iranian regime’s tools to tighten control over women’s voices — aware of their power to expose injustice and challenge patriarchal oppression. Since gender discrimination is woven into the fabric of the system, women journalists are perceived as a direct threat.

 

“The Repression of Women Journalists Is Deeply Rooted in Patriarchy”

Sara Manshi, a sociology student, explains:

“The repression of women journalists in Iran is deeply tied to the patriarchal nature of power and its desire to control public narratives. Women in the media are not just independent voices — they are a challenge to the social order built on gender discrimination.”

From the regime’s perspective, women journalists pose a dual threat: as reporters capable of exposing injustice, and as women defying imposed traditional roles. That’s why they face a mix of online harassment, defamation, and security intimidation — all designed to silence and erase them from public life.

The stories of Shirin Ahmadi, Farnaz Q., and hundreds of others are not isolated incidents but part of a systemic structure built to exclude women’s voices from Iran’s public sphere. Despite the regime’s attempts to suppress them through fear, humiliation, and control, the voices of women who write for freedom, justice, and truth cannot be silenced forever. The silence imposed is fragile by nature — and the stories buried under repression will eventually rise to the light, because truth cannot be buried; it only waits for someone to listen.