Zohreh Asadpour is one of the women arrested in the gathering outside of the Ministry of Labor on International Women’s Day. She was transferred to Qarchak prison in Varamin, along with other detainees. After her release from prison, she wrote her observations in a report titled, “Qarchak Will Not Leave Us.”
The report illustrates the deplorable conditions of the prison and the plight of exploited women detainees.
The report reads in part:
“Fruits and vegetables are not included in prison rations and therefore only those with money have access to it from the prison store. Even drinking water is not freely available. The salty bitter water in Qarchak is not even suitable for washing clothes… In prison you have to have money to buy bottled water from the prison store.
Earning money is also a separate story; deprived prisoners have no choice but to work in prison… These woman workers are not paid by the prison, rather other prisoners have to pay them and each prisoner is obligated to pay them 1,500 tomans (around 50 cents) every month as salary.
The prison laborers have to be at the workshop before 9 am until 5pm. Eight hours of work a day in exchange for extremely insignificant wages!
Qarchak Prison is a prison in Varamin for women who have been accused of committing various crimes. The prison is situated in the deserts near east Tehran which makes it difficult for families to visit their loved ones.
