Women in Jordan: The Missing Link

Jordan recently abolished Article 308 of the Penal Code, which permits a rapist to marry his victim to escape criminal charges, if she consents. Though this may be a victory, the fact that it is a contentious issue, points to a bigger problem.

Article 308 often resulted in the victim being forcibly married to her rapist to protect her family’s ‘honour’. As one woman told the BBC last April: “With all the hatred I have in my heart, my family forced me to marry him so as to save the family's honour. My only hope from marrying him was to make my baby safe; I was keen to register him in his father's name, but I failed.”

On 1 August, a sit-in was held outside the Jordanian Parliament while Article 308 was being debated after the abolishment was put forth by a royal committee. Fortunately, the efforts of female activists, organisations, and the everyday woman resulted in success, and the law was abolished later that day.

While the article in itself was an issue, what is more indicative of a chronic problem is the plenitude of amendments that were suggested during the debate.

Rape does not leave room for consent

Certain female MPs proved to have questionable stances during the debate. For example, the Jordan Times cited former Social Development minister, Reem Abu Hassan, objecting to the abolishment of the law. She stated that “the option to marry the victim should be made available in cases where the element of consent is present, especially when there is pregnancy, in order to ensure that the child will be legitimate.” However, the question of consent is made void by default in the cases of rape as it is inherently without consent.

A number of participants also put forth alternatives to the abolishment, for example, extending the duration of the marriage contract to seven years before charges are dropped. Should lawmakers have the intent to protect the victims and punish their perpetrators, this debate would not be needed.

This points to the poor social status of women in the region, and the strong presence of traditional male-female roles. As such, there is little protection for women against gender-based violence. In addition, there is little room for women to participate in socio-economic spaces.

The Arab woman’s body as incubator for future generations

This type of degenerative law is not the exception, but one of many similar articles, not only in Jordan, but also in a remainder of Arab countries, including Tunisia, Morocco, and Lebanon until this past February. In Egypt, the issue is more internalised. A campaign founded by Egyptian women to reduce the number of unmarried women in the country, for example, roughly translates to ‘Get your husband married’.

This oppression has morphed into internalised misogyny. An informant interviewed by the West Asia-North Africa (WANA) Institute, recently held a lecture for women on gender-based violence in the more impoverished East Amman. She probed the question: “Is a husband permitted to hit his wife if he is antagonised?” to which 98 per cent of participants responded “yes.”

This context cripples the basic freedoms of women and results in abject acceptance of the status quo. Women begin to inherently accept violence committed against them in fear of behaving shamefully. It clearly prevents any steps forward – ideologically and practically.

In many areas in the region, the female body is viewed by both genders as somewhat of an incubator for future generations. Her obligations extend to a physical purpose and this objectification entitles men to behave in any manner almost inexcusably and pushes women to accept this behaviour.

Women’s empowerment essential to countering violent extremism

While there is an ample amount of development and human security programmes attempting to encourage female socio-economic and political participation, women are often reluctant to participate. The deeply infused ideas of traditional society have not been sufficiently challenged to see the great successes from these attempts.

As a result, women are still not empowered enough to intervene in deviant behaviour at home, and bypass the positive effects from increased female participation, such as an additional income for the household, an economic stimulant, and the ability to pass on more critical thinking skills.

Society at large also benefits from female empowerment. Interventions from women at home have shown to decrease acts of petty crime, such as drug use and theft. In addition, there have been several recorded instances wherein mothers have prevented their children from making poor decisions such as traveling to Syria and Iraq to join Daesh. Countering violent extremism literature increasingly points to the need to strengthen the mother’s capacity to deter her children from joining violent groups.

Educating mothers on early warning signs and behavioural change, creating an active space, and empowering women in all contexts, will strengthen their role in preventing such negative phenomena and protect their safety. It is imperative to make substantial changes to the standing of women in Jordan and the region to allow for progress towards a healthier society and inducing cultures of tolerance.