User:Basilayedgw/Women in Jordan

Background Information
In the Arab world, the domestic and work spheres remain very separate, and discussions over women's rights are up and coming. Many institutions no longer present in the US still stand in Jordan, like the lack of access to education for women in the Arab world. In 1988, the Labor and Unemployment Survey found that 22% of Jordanian women were students and no less than 76% of women were housewives. In addition, women often start working in Jordan at a very young age, many of whom have no education. The expectation for most Jordanian women is to either remain in their family home or get married and live with their husbands, controlling their homes while their husbands are gone. Almost all women in Jordan are economically dependent on the men in their lives, making them more susceptible to violence in their homes.

In Jordan, a woman's home could be the most dangerous place for them. The majority of the violence against women in Jordan takes place in the household, committed by people who most of the time are directly related to the victim. Current research shows that there is a variety of ways violence can be committed in the home, from verbal abuse to incest. The most extreme of all however is honor killings, in which women suspected of deviating from norms imposed by society are killed to restore a man’s honor. Jordanian society is often considered a neopatriarchy, in the sense that power relationships are influenced not only by gender, but also by class, clan, or power your family may hold. Honor killings are a mode of social control, using fear to keep women in a subordinate position to maintain their power and honor.

Honor killings[edit]
Honor crimes are acts of violence committed by family members against women who are perceived to have shamed the family in some way. Women can "shame" their family by engaging in "marital infidelity, pre-marital sex and flirting", or getting raped. The Jordanian Penal Code today still includes provisions that excuse honor crimes by granting the perpetrator leniency in punishment. Many of these killings go unreported, but each year tens of women are killed by family members in order to "restore honor." Honor killings occur across the Middle East and around the world. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights reports of honor killings in Bangladesh, Great Britain, Brazil, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Pakistan, Morocco, Sweden, Turkey, and Uganda expose that this practice "goes across cultures and across religions."

It has been difficult to change legislation (particularly Article 340 of the Jordanian Penal Code) because violence against women has traditionally been considered a "private matter" rather than the "responsibility of the state." In fact, there has been a nationwide women's human rights campaign, supported by King Abdullah and Queen Rania, to modify Article 340, which grants perpetrators of honor killings leniency in Jordanian courts. In addition, Article 98 of the code allows for a perpetrator to be exempted from the punishment if the act was a result of “a state of extreme anger in response to a wrongful and serious act on the part of the victim.”

Due to the nature of these crimes, it is much easier for them to be swept under the rug and treated with leniency under Jordanian law. Data is often inconsistent and incomplete with official statistics being difficult to find as a result of cases not being reported properly. By 2017, Jordan reported between 15 and 20 honor killings, according to the Human Rights Watch. However, according to the Jordanian Women's Solidarity Institute, there were 21 recorded honor killings of women in 2019. By 2020, there were 17 recorded killings, but official statistics are not yet available.

Article 340 (a)
Jordanian Law protects offenders who kill in the name of honor under Article 340 A. The law states “Any man who kills or attacks his wife or any of his female relatives in the act of committing adultery or in an “unlawful bed” benefits from a reduction in penalty”. Article 340 A was amended in 2001 after many pushed to amend the law and gained further attention after the Jordanian Women’s Union founded the first domestic violence hotline. Rana Husseini, an esteemed Jordanian journalist and activist, also influenced the changing of legislation by covering honor killings in the media. In 1999, familial and tribal ways to deal with honor-related issues were eliminated by the palace. Honor killings are now a serious matter that are brought to the criminal court. Despite numerous attempts to deny its amendment by the Elected Lower House of Parliament in 1999 and 2000, by 2001 Article 340 A was changed to incorporate women, making it gender-neutral. This was only made possible after the suspension of the lower house in late 2001, allowing the amendment to pass. According to the Human Rights Watch, “In the case of article 340, the “temporary” law amended rather than repealed: husbands would no longer be exonerated for murdering unfaithful wives, but instead the circumstances would be considered as evidence for mitigating punishment. And, in an apparent effort to mollify proponents of repeal, the mitigation was extended to women as well as men”.

Article 98
Article 98 states that “a perpetrator will be exempted from the punishment for murder if his criminal act was due to 'a state of extreme anger in response to a wrongful and serious act on the part of the victim.'” This law mitigates punishments to the perpetrator and can get them a sentence as low as 6 months. In extreme cases, the minimum sentence is only raised to a year. Article 98 works when there is even slight evidence of an unlawful act that causes a fit of rage. “This statute mandates reduction of penalty for a perpetrator (of either gender) who commits a crime in a “state of great fury [or “fit of fury”] resulting from an unlawful and dangerous act on the part of the victim.” This can be anywhere from a hunch to actual evidence of an event. If the perpetrator serves the prescribed sentence in the time that the trials take, he can be let go as a free man after the trials.

Cases
One instance of an honor killing in Jordan occurred in the Hussein Refugee Camp, on 1 September 2002, where 21-year-old Su’ad was murdered by her 19-year-old brother, Ra’ed. Court documents, witness statements, and defense statements state that Su’ad was in a relationship with her neighbor, Mahmoud. This relationship resulted in a pregnancy, with Su’ad eventually going to the Family Protection Unit due to stomach pains. Su’ad’s parents were made aware of the pregnancy by the Family Protection Unit, and Su’ad’s brother, Ra’ed arrived at the family home on 31 August, unaware of the pregnancy. Neighbors of Su’ad’s parents called Ra’ed “the brother of a prostitute” upon his arrival, prompting Ra’ed’s parents to inform Ra’ed of Su’ad’s pregnancy. Ra’ed was reported to approach Su’ad and inquire about the pregnancy, to which Su’ad responded by asserting that she was “free to do what she desired with her body and her life.”

Around 5:30 the next morning, Ra’ed went into Su’ad’s room and, with a piece of string, choked her to death, after which he handed himself over to authorities. Ra’ed testified later on that he had killed his sister because “no one who has honor will accept his sister tarnishing his family’s reputation.” In one of the defense lawyer’s letters to the judge, it was written that Su’ad “deserves death as pregnancy out of wedlock is beyond any religious or moral reasoning.” The defense lawyer also worked to persuade the judge to implement Article 98, an article stating that honor killing offenders could receive reduced sentences if proven to be in a “state of great fury resulting in an unlawful and dangerous act on the part of the victim.” The judge announced the crime to be murder, and not premeditated murder, by Article 326 of the Criminal Code, and also implemented Article 98 to grant Ra’ed a reduced penalty of one year, stating that he lost “control over his actions” in his rageful state.

Article 98 was amended in 2017, now stating that "perpetrators of crimes "against women" cannot received mitigated sentences." However, Article 340 of the same law still permits reduced sentences for "those who murder their spouses discovered committing adultery."

In April 2010, a 33-year-old man was charged with "hammering his wife to death and dumping her body on the highway leading to the Queen Alia International Airport". The husband easily confessed to murdering his wife in order to defend his honor, as she had been out meeting a male friend without his permission.

On July 18, 2020, a massive uproar regarding honor killings began in Jordan after a horrifying murder occurred in plain view on a public street. "A man killed his daughter, Ahlam, by smashing her head with a concrete block in plain view on a public street, then sat beside her body, smoking a cigarette and drinking a cup of tea. This news was reported by eyewitnesses and could be seen in video footage circulating on social media, in which viewers could hear Ahlam’s resounding screams. Witnesses also claimed that Ahlam’s brothers had prevented anyone from coming to her aid."

In May 2023, three women were murdered in Jordan within a week due to 'honor' according to the Public Prosecutor for the Grand Criminal Court. One case involved a father setting his 19-year-old daughter on fire by pouring gasoline around her bed while she was asleep due to two failed marriages. Another involved a man taking a kitchen knife and slitting his 19-year-old sister's throat and killing her because he thought she was in a relationship. The third case was similar and involved a man stabbing his sister in the neck and chest because he suspected she was involved with someone. All three men were charged with premeditated murder, which could carry a penalty of death by hanging if criminalized.

An uncommon, but possible cause of an honor killing is the result of impregnation by incest. One example of this was Kifaya who was 16 years old when her 32-year-old brother, Khalid, stabbed her to death. Kifaya was one of 10 siblings and got pregnant when she was raped by her younger brother, Mahmoud. Khalid originally was sentenced to seven years in prison, however, it was reduced to one year and Mahmoud was sentenced to 13 years for the rape and premeditated murder of his sister.