TEHRAN – Throughout history, women have often been more vulnerable than their male peers and faced higher risks of crime, sexual exploitation, and forced labor.

This is a recurring theme around the world, and while each society has its own unique expressions of this, women everywhere can often share tragic stories of struggle.

One place you might not expect to find abuse against women is in an organization that so loudly proclaims itself the "defender" of women's rights, especially one that boasts about having a female "leader" and purportedly keeps men inferior throughout its ranks.

The terrorist group Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) may not consider its killing of over 23,000 Iranians a heinous act, nor its alliance with Saddam Hussein against Iran during the 1980s invasion. A member might even argue that these acts of terror and treason were committed in the name of a just cause. However, what the group would certainly never admit is its systematic abuse of its own members, especially the women it so desperately tries to portray as free and happy.

Yet, as time goes on, an increasing number of female ex-members are breaking their silence to expose the truth: a truth characterized by unimaginable violence and violation of human, personal, and gender rights. Maryam Sanjabi is one of these women.

Maryam looked composed as she sat across from me for the interview. Her demeanor provided a stark contrast to the chilling information I had just read online – that the MEK was looking to assassinate her. I asked her if this was true. She said yes, but what she cared about was that the group’s façade would come down, especially in the European countries currently sheltering the MEK.

Maryam's introduction to the organization came through her older brother when she was just in middle school. She joined the terror outfit in the 80s, a decision she now reflects on with deep regret. “While I know I have to take responsibility for what I did, I can't help but wonder how I ended up in the Ashraf Camp in Iraq," she explained. "Of course, I didn't fully understand what I was signing up for. I was young, naïve, and easily sucked in by their lies. The MEK leaders said their aim was to make Iran free and prosperous, but all they ever cared about was murdering innocent people and enslaving us."

For 25 years, Maryam was part of the organization. In 2011, she finally fled Iraq after witnessing horrific crimes against its members, especially women.

The Tehran Times had previously reported on the Ashraf Camp’s isolation: members were cut off from technology and the outside world, subjected to strict segregation, and forced into hours of daily brainwashing. They were even forced to divorce their spouses and send their children away. But speaking with Maryam provided deeper insight into the particular struggles women in the group endured.

The forced sterilization of women 

Up until the 1990s, women in the MEK held no real status under the leadership of its early founders. At best, they were limited to working in kitchens, kindergartens, or dormitories, Maryam said. But in the 90s, when Maryam Qajar-Azdanlou rose alongside Massoud Rajavi, a new deception took shape. 

“Qajar-Azdanlou is the group’s most notorious female fraud—everything she says about women’s rights is a lie, and her actions completely contradict her words. The group’s propaganda boasts that women hold top leadership roles and portrays them as free-thinking revolutionaries. But in reality, the women there are essentially prisoners, stripped of any real agency or decision-making power.” 

Maryam explained that the MEK was particularly concerned about women leaving the organization. They employed extreme measures to ensure no woman could escape or think about anything beyond devotion to Rajavi. "A key part of their control strategy was systematically eliminating women's roles as wives and mothers," she said. 

As previously reported by the Tehran Times, the MEK ended up forcing all couples within the Ashraf Camp to divorce their spouses. Then it proceeded to ban any form of romance and intimacy, with women facing harsher punishments than men for breaking the rules. "I knew a 30-year-old woman who confessed her feelings to a male member," Maryam recalled. "When the MEK leadership discovered this, they forced dozens of members to verbally abuse her during our nightly 'confession sessions' - hour-long rituals where we had to admit any 'wrongdoings' from the day."

"The constant humiliation destroyed her. She eventually committed suicide by electrocuting herself with high-voltage wiring."

The MEK's family destruction campaign progressed methodically: after separating spouses, they removed children—first shipping them to Jordan, then dispersing them across Europe. Finally, they ensured women could never bear children again. "They moved from forced divorces to mass sterilizations," Maryam stated.

The organization actively sought opportunities to perform sterilizations. "A simple stomachache became justification," Maryam revealed. "They'd claim your life depended on the procedure. If you resisted, they'd invent another surgical reason and sterilize you while anesthetized—without your knowledge."

Having worked in the MEK's documentation center, Maryam had unique insight: "I knew of about 150 sterilized women. Many horrific cases crossed my desk that others never saw."

Leaving made impossible 

During the first few years of MEK’s presence in Iraq, exiting the organization was relatively straightforward. Departing members would be held in separate quarters for about a year before release. However, after the group suffered major losses during a failed 1988 operation against Iran, they implemented draconian measures to prevent defections.

"Everything changed overnight," Maryam explained. "Anyone requesting to leave would be confined in isolation for two years. Upon release, they'd be given only basic provisions—a fork, spoon, bag of flour, used clothing, and minimal cash—before being abandoned at Abu Ghraib prison. Without passports (which we'd surrendered upon joining), Iraqis detained these stateless individuals for six to seven years."

Abu Ghraib had long been synonymous with systematic torture, both before and after the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The prison gained global notoriety in 2004 when leaked photographs exposed its brutal torture practices: prisoners led on leashes, naked detainees stacked in human pyramids, and individuals forced into crucifixion-like positions.

"Some former members begged to rejoin the MEK after being sent to Abu Ghraib," Maryam revealed. "Many disappeared inside that prison - we never heard from them again. Others didn't survive at all."

For those who endured the Iraqi facility's horrors, survival didn't mean recovery. The Tehran Times recently learned about the case of one woman who returned to Iran after her imprisonment. The former MEK member spent her remaining years institutionalized in psychiatric care before dying earlier this year.

Punished before disobedience

The MEK conducted periodic "purification" campaigns to eliminate discontent within its ranks. Members suspected of dissatisfaction or potential desertion were rounded up and subjected to days of torture. Maryam eventually became one of these targeted "impure elements."

"They accused me and others of being Iranian government agents, which was nonsense, " Maryam recounted. "They knew perfectly well we had no outside contact. This was simply their way of warning unhappy members about the consequences of attempting to leave."

Eight years after joining, Maryam was taken to the "Castle" - a notorious prison complex within Ashraf Camp. "The first person I saw was Mahboubeh Jamshidi, sitting on a chair, screaming curses at me, and demanding confessions. Then others in the room began beating me."

Maryam was confined in a cell with other women prisoners. Their daily existence consisted of relentless beatings, with only three one-minute bathroom breaks outside their cells each day.

"Four jailers oversaw our torture: Heshmat Tiftakchi, Nahid Sadeghi, Kobra Hassanvand, and Fatemeh Kheradmand. Kheradmand would kick me with her military boots - head, face, everywhere. Her blows split my lips open and left permanent scars. My wounds bled profusely, but I never received any medical treatment."

"The violence escalated one day when Kheradmand attacked me like a wild animal and tried to break my hand. Though I fought back, she damaged nerves in my right hand and left it numb for years. The injury remains visible today."

Maryam endured this torture for ten days. "Then Shahin Haeri, Saeeda Shahrokhi, and other guards came. They dragged me to a room, bound my limbs, and whipped my feet and body until I passed out. They revived me with water, only to repeat the process again and again."

After this ordeal, Maryam was returned to the general population with strict orders never to speak about what had happened.

Death, the ultimate fate of the women who dared escape

But what awaited those who miraculously escaped Ashraf Camp, avoided Abu Ghraib prison, and survived the MEK's internal torture system? Almost certain death - particularly for women.

"I escaped during a period when surveillance had weakened after Saddam's fall," Maryam explained. "The regime's collapse meant the MEK lost its main ally in hunting down fugitives. Those who tried escaping earlier weren't so lucky - many were captured and executed."

Maryam recounted the tragic story of Minoo Fathali, a camp guard who fled with a male colleague she loved. "The MEK deployed sixty Iraqi patrol vehicles to track them down. They were captured in Baghdad and dragged back."

While the man eventually escaped after serving two years' imprisonment, Minoo suffered a far worse fate - she was executed with cyanide. "This was their standard method," Maryam noted. "Countless others chose suicide over continued torment. I knew of about 100 suicides among our 5,000 members - an unimaginable toll."

Maryam said she feels bad for some of the people left trapped in the MEK. "Before I escaped, I confided in my two closest friends," she shared. "But fear kept them from joining me. Now they're stuck in the MEK's Albanian compound—I don't think they'll ever be able to find a way out, but I pray to God that someone helps them leave that hell."