Iran is witnessing a steep rise in child labor, particularly in urban centers like Tehran, as economic hardship intensifies and state protection systems continue to falter. On the World Day Against Child Labor, June 12, we shed light on the tragic situation of child laborers in Iran.

In May 2024, Soudabeh Najafi, a Tehran City Council member and head of its Health Committee, described the presence of children working on the streets as a “serious red flag” being ignored by authorities. In an interview with Shargh Daily on May 14, 2024, Najafi warned that the number of child laborers in Tehran had noticeably increased in recent months and that “children’s presence on the streets is a crisis that must not be normalized.”

Najafi explained that the issue is being addressed in a fragmented manner by multiple institutions—including the Welfare Organization, Tehran Municipality, and the Governor’s Office—without unified oversight. “The main perpetrators of child labor in the city are those who take children from their parents and then deploy them for work under harsh and exploitative conditions,” she said.

The clerical regime avoids giving accurate statistics regarding the number of children involved in child labor. Moreover, occasionally, officials announce false statistics to downplay the gravity of the situation.

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The Iranian legal system not only fails to protect women from gender-based violence—it actively enables it. Survivors of domestic abuse face a maze of bureaucratic obstacles, from police inaction to ineffective forensic procedures, all within a system that places the burden of proof entirely on the victim. Legal provisions that should help women are routinely ignored, while courts and police refuse to intervene meaningfully.

Women are shuffled between institutions, often without support or protection. Forensic evidence, while technically available, is easily dismissed by abusers and rarely leads to convictions. Cultural taboos, fear of retaliation, and lack of legal safeguards ensure that witnesses remain silent and victims give up.

The ultimate consequence is fatal: since early 2025, dozens of Iranian women have been murdered by male relatives, many after failed attempts to seek help. With no protective infrastructure—no shelters, no follow-up, no legal enforcement—many women are sent back to abusive homes, reinforcing a cycle of violence.

The article concludes that the Iranian regime is not just failing women—it is structurally complicit. Gender-based violence is not an unintended flaw but a deliberate result of a system built to uphold patriarchal control.

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Derrière les discours de progrès se cache une crise d’épuisement, de discrimination de genre et d’émigration massive dans le système de santé iranien
Le gouvernement affirme une baisse de l’émigration des infirmières en pleine crise
Selon les médias officiels, le ministre iranien de la Santé, Mohammadreza Zafarghandi, a déclaré lors d’une réunion du cabinet, le mercredi 28 mai, qu’il y avait eu une « baisse significative de l’émigration des infirmières, des médecins et des spécialistes au cours du second semestre de l’année 1403 (calendrier persan), par rapport à la même période en 1402. »
(Fararu – 28 mai 2025)
Le lendemain, le vice-ministre des Soins infirmiers, Abbas Ebadi, a attribué ce prétendu progrès à des « politiques de soutien et génératrices d’espoir ».
(YJC – 29 mai 2025)

Ebadi a affirmé que, « selon l’Organisation des infirmiers, environ 2 000 infirmières avaient demandé des certificats d’émigration en 1402, mais que ce chiffre était tombé à moins de 1 300 en 1403. » Il a ajouté que cette baisse avait été « particulièrement marquée dans la seconde moitié de 1403, période durant laquelle la tendance à la hausse de la migration des infirmières aurait presque cessé ».

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