The city of Qom, the Shi’ite religious capital of Iran south of Tehran, is at the top of the table for female drug addicts in the country, a local website Qom Farda cited an official at the Islamic Republic President's office, as saying.
Deputy for coordinating women's affairs, Zahra Javaherian, also noted that Qom has the highest number of women arrested for crimes related to narcotics and drug addiction.
Furthermore, Ms. Javaherian asserted on Tuesday, December 31, that, on average, villages around Qom have the highest rate of divorce in the country's rural areas.
"Qom is also number one for girls dropping out of elementary and high schools," Javaherian said.
Meanwhile, the official insisted that the number of women serving as managers is significantly lower in the holy city, ranked at 31 in Iran.
However, without elaboration, Javaherian noted that the data presented by her had been collected in 2016, and since then, some positive changes have occurred in the city.
In 2014, the Secretary-General of the Office for Combating Drugs for Women and Family Affairs, Zahra Bonyanian, had said that 68 percent of female addicts are aged between twenty and 39 years; of this total, 62 percent were married.
In 2016, the head of Qom’s registrar’s office said that the city had the highest number of divorces in Iran, and the rate of alimony in the town showed a 5,000% growth.
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