"It is a targeted practice. The interrogators are given special training to systematically break the morale of jailed women," stated Iranian rights advocate Narges Mohammadi. She was recounting details of how dissident women are subject to various forms of mistreatment during interrogation by Iran's Intelligence Ministry and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Addressing a meeting on the social media platform Clubhouse, Mohammadi reported physical mistreatment at the hands of male interrogators and guards. She noted that such practices are not limited to secular women and said religious prisoners are not spared.

The internationally renowned rights advocate detailed the case of one such woman who reported being harassed and humiliated by her interrogator. "Take this cash and sleep with me, too," the detainee said she was told by the intelligence officer. Another prisoner, according to Mohammadi, "fell mentally ill" after being "groped" by her interrogator.

For over 22 years, Mohammadi has been defending women's rights and fighting Iran's death penalty, a struggle that has seen her behind bars several times. Only last week, she was handed her latest sentence of 30 months and 80 lashes for "propaganda against the Islamic Republic," among other charges.