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What's a flogging? Could it really hurt her?
Flogging is a beating with a whip or lash — usually on the back — and yes, 74 lashes can cause severe pain, bruising, and lasting scars, sometimes even serious injury.
Why it matters: Iran's courts still hand out flogging for 'public decency' offences, so the sentence isn't just symbolic — it's a real, physically brutal punishment.
- Flogging (ta'zir lashing in Iranian law) is a legal punishment carried out by whipping the offender's back, shoulders, or legs with a leather whip or cable; in Iran it is typically performed in public or semi-public settings.
- The number of lashes is set by the court — here, 74 — and the blows are meant to be painful but not fatal; however, doctors and human rights groups say a 74-lash sentence can still cause deep bruising, lacerations, and permanent scarring.
- Iranian law requires the lashes to be delivered in a way that doesn't kill the person, but it does not spare them from excruciating pain — victims have described the whip as cutting into the skin, and some have required hospital treatment afterward.
- In January 2024, Kurdish-Iranian activist Roya Heshmati was flogged 74 times after being convicted of 'violating public morals' over a photo without the hijab, showing the sentence is actively carried out, not just written on paper.
Room for disagreement
- Iranian officials and the judiciary defend flogging as a legitimate Sharia-based punishment for 'public decency' offences, arguing it is a deterrent and that it is administered in a way that avoids permanent injury — a position sharply contested by Amnesty International and human rights lawyers, who call it 'cruel, inhuman and degrading' and a violation of the absolute prohibition on torture.
AI-generated with web search — may be wrong. Check the linked sources.
