
Iran: The Taboo Subject of Sexual Abuse of Boys and Dealing with Trauma
In Qom, Iran's religious capital, strict rules govern the freedom of women and girls in the name of "sexual safety," while the sexual abuse of boys remains almost never discussed. Hossein was assaulted as a child and kept the experience hidden for decades, a silence common among Iranian men who grew up in similarly closed communities. The film follows him and his wife Elahe as they work through the trauma together, with Elahe's support becoming central to his effort to speak about what happened rather than bury it further. Interviews with Hossein, his family, and others familiar with the culture of silence around male sexual abuse in Iran build a picture of a taboo that keeps victims isolated long into adulthood. The documentary treats the subject with restraint, focusing on the psychological aftermath and the social and religious pressures that make disclosure so difficult, rather than on graphic detail. It is a portrait of one marriage's attempt to break a silence that extends far beyond one household.