Iranian security forces have used rape and other types of sexual abuse to intimidate protesters during the crackdown on nationwide protests that started in September last year under the banner of "Women, Life, Freedom," Amnesty International said in a report published on December 6.
Sexual violence was weaponized and used with impunity against women, men, and children, the 120-page report that documents the ordeal of 45 survivors has found.
Those interviewed included 26 men, 12 women, and seven children who suffered sexual violence perpetrated by Iranian security forces.
No Iranian official has so far been charged or prosecuted for sexual crimes against the detained protesters that included rape, gang rape, and/or other forms of sexual violence, the report said.
Iranian women have been at the forefront of nationwide protests triggered by the death in custody in September last year of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who had been arrested in Tehran for allegedly improperly wearing a hijab.
The protest movement was joined by many men and boys outraged by the decades of religious restrictions and other forms of suppression imposed on women by Iran's theocracy.
SEE ALSO: Classified Document On Iran's 'Hijab Guards' Unveils Government Cover-UpProtests gradually lost their intensify by the end of 2022 as they were met with fierce repression by the security forces. Hundreds were killed and thousands were arrested, according to activists and the United Nations.
"Our research exposes how intelligence and security agents in Iran used rape and other sexual violence to torture, punish, and inflict lasting physical and psychological damage on protesters, including children as young as 12," Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnes Callamard said.
"The harrowing testimonies we collected point to a wider pattern in the use of sexual violence as a key weapon in the Iranian authorities' armory of repression of the protests and suppression of dissent to cling to power at all costs," Callamard said.
The report found that a wide array of Iranian security forces participated in the sexual violence against those detained during protests.
They included members of the Revolutionary Guards, the paramilitary Basij force, the Intelligence Ministry, and various law-enforcement departments such as the Public Security Police, the Investigation Unit of Iran's police, and the Special Forces of the police.
SEE ALSO: Fired Iranian Professor Says High-Tech Surveillance, Dismissals Used To 'Impose Silence' At UniversitiesAmnesty International shared its findings with the Iranian authorities on November 24 but has thus far received no response, the rights watchdog said.
Out of the 45 survivors interviewed by Amnesty, 16 were raped, including six women, seven men, a 14-year-old girl, and two boys aged 16 and 17.
Four women and two men were subjected to gang rape by members of the security forces.
The report documented instances of vaginal, anal, and oral rape perpetrated on women and girls by security agents, while men and boys were subjected to anal rape.
Wooden and metal batons, glass bottles, and hosepipes were used to rape detainees in detention facilities and police vans, as well as schools and residential buildings.
Most of the abused victims did not file complaints against the perpetrators out of fear of reprisals, Amnesty said, adding that in the rare cases when the victims told prosecutors about their ordeal, they were ignored.
"Without political will and fundamental constitutional and legal reforms, structural barriers will continue to plague Iran's justice system," said Callamard.
"With no prospects for justice domestically, the international community has a duty to stand with the survivors and pursue justice.... We urge states to initiate criminal investigations in their own countries against suspected perpetrators under the principle of universal jurisdiction, with a view to issuing international arrest warrants."