A 16-year-old protester was sexually assaulted by security forces in Iran during the country's nationwide uprising, says the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN). Two detainees from Kermanshah, including one child, reported sexual abuse during arrest. "During the transfer, security forces touched their bodies with batons. They beat and applied pressure to the anal area with a baton through the clothing," said Rebin Rahmani of KHRN, who spoke with sources close to the minor’s family. Iran is under a communication blackout, preventing further updates. Since late December, more than 20,000 protesters have been arrested amid protests that have killed at least 3,766 people, with nearly 9,000 deaths under investigation, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. Human rights groups express grave concerns about torture and sexual abuse in custody. In 2022 protests, detainees reported rapes and beatings. A woman told the Guardian she was blindfolded and sexually assaulted by interrogators. The Norway-based Kurdish group Hengaw reported the killing of Sholeh Sotoudeh, a pregnant woman, and her unborn child when security forces fired on protesters on January 10. At least one protester, 40-year-old Soran Feyzizadeh, died from torture in custody after his arrest on January 7. "His body was barely recognisable due to the extent of injuries caused by repeated blows," said Awyar Shekhi of Hengaw. Feyzizadeh’s family paid a large sum to reclaim his body and were barred from attending his funeral. "They killed him. They killed Soran so brutally," a close relative told the Guardian. KHRN is investigating two more deaths in custody in Kermanshah and Marivan. The internet blackout stops interviews with detainees inside Iran. The Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran documented over 549 detainees, including 51 women, transferred to Yazd central prison. Executive director Roya Boroumand warned, "As street protests wind down, arbitrary arrests have increased as has the risk of torture for detainees. Over the past decades we have documented numerous cases of death in custody alongside severe physical and psychological torture, including beating, flogging and sexual assault."