InvestorHire News
April 6, 2025

“From Tehran to Los Angeles: How Iranian Men Exploit Two Systems to Abuse Women Without Consequence”

By Jacqueline Valentine, Contributor

In Iran, the world has long watched the brutal repression of women unfold in plain sight. From mandatory hijabs to violent crackdowns on protests, gender apartheid is written into law. But what happens when Iranian men come to the United States? According to alarming patterns emerging across several states, abuse doesn’t stop at the border — and in some cases, it gets worse.

Women Under Siege in Iran

Iran ranks among the world’s worst countries for women’s rights. According to the World Economic Forum's 2023 Global Gender Gap Report, Iran placed 143rd out of 146 countries, with deeply entrenched legal discrimination. A woman cannot travel, marry, or even obtain a passport without a male guardian’s permission. Marital rape is not recognized. Domestic abuse is rampant and rarely prosecuted.

A study by the Iranian Legal Medicine Organization reported that nearly 63% of Iranian women have experienced domestic violence — a number likely underreported due to fear, censorship, and stigma.

Exporting Misogyny: Abuse Without Borders

The problem doesn’t stop within Iran’s borders. A growing number of Iranian women living in the United States are coming forward with disturbing stories of psychological, physical, and financial abuse by Iranian-born partners. The difference? In America, these men often learn to manipulate legal gray zones and cultural blind spots — and get away with it.

Ali Rezvani*, an Iranian-American tech entrepreneur based in California, was accused by two ex-wives of emotional coercion and financial isolation. “He would use immigration threats, religious shame, and American custody laws as weapons,” said one former partner. “In Iran, he would have been backed by the law. Here, he learned to weaponize the loopholes.”

The Numbers Tell a Stark Story

According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS), 1 in 4 women in the U.S. has experienced severe intimate partner violence. But when it comes to immigrant and Middle Eastern communities, data becomes scarcer — and more troubling.

A 2020 report by the Tahirih Justice Center found that immigrant women are twice as likely to face abuse in silence due to fears around legal status, language barriers, and cultural stigma. Iranian-American women reported disproportionately high rates of threats involving immigration status or child custody.

Even in California, which boasts progressive laws and strong advocacy networks, advocates say that dozens of Iranian-American women seek help each month from organizations like the Iranian American Women Foundation and the Middle Eastern Women’s Resource Center — often reporting patterns of control eerily similar to those seen in Iran.

A Culture of Silence — and Enabling

What makes this issue even more difficult to confront is the silence within tight-knit Iranian communities in the diaspora. “Reputation is everything,” says Dr. Mona Farahani, a sociologist who studies gender and diaspora dynamics. “Women are often discouraged from speaking out, told to preserve family honor, and made to feel that American courts won’t understand their culture anyway.”

Religious and community leaders, many of whom are male, have also been criticized for discouraging women from seeking help outside the family. One anonymous Los Angeles advocate shared: “We’ve seen men with money and status use their influence to paint women as unstable, hysterical, or ‘Westernized’ for resisting control.”

Breaking the Cycle

Despite these obstacles, more women are stepping forward — and demanding that both American and Iranian communities face the truth.

In 2023, a class-action lawsuit was quietly filed in San Mateo County, alleging that multiple Iranian-American men used coordinated tactics to isolate, surveil, and silence their partners. Legal observers believe this may become a landmark case in exposing how cultural abuse tactics can thrive even under U.S. legal protections.

Organizations like Invest In Her Voice, launched last year by survivors, are working to create a bilingual hotline and legal aid network specifically for Iranian and Middle Eastern women in abusive situations in the U.S.

Enough is Enough

The fight for women’s rights doesn’t stop at the border. It’s time to look critically at how patriarchal power structures migrate and adapt — and how they’re protected by silence and loopholes.

Iranian women deserve freedom — whether they’re in Tehran or Torrance. American systems must wake up to the subtle ways abuse is exported and evolve to protect every woman, regardless of her background.