I was extremely impressed by the 7 young women and 3 young men who made up the Tunisian Group… as a matter of fact a lot of people were. These women were all intelligent, intellectually inspiring and delightfully full of life.  Their ideas were creative; you knew they would deliver when they promise… they were simply empowered.

During the last 5 years of youth work around the world, I have been puzzled at how advanced women from Arab Maghreb are in comparison to us… Jordanian women.   I wonder why it is not that often that we meet Jordanian women who are empowered, intelligent and intellectually impressive… I am not saying there are no Jordanian women who are like that… on the contrary there are many… but they are the many exceptions of the rule.  

The answer was in Al Ghad newspaper yesterday in a depressing article about domestic abuse. Let’s take a quick look at the numbers… from 2003-2008:

·         442 women were raped!

·         183 women almost raped

·         1379 women sexually assaulted ( different from rape and almost rape)

·         1099 physically abused

·         1200 young women had to go through virginity tests! (Last year only)! Am I imagining things or was this a jahiliya practice that forbidden by Islam?

I am not talking about honour crimes, or non-reported abuse. I am not even talking about the injustice of divorce or child custody or any of these issues…. I am simply talking about extreme cases that made it to the media, because they were extreme.  The excuse we all use is Shari’a law… which ironically was designed to guarantee women’s rights…However the biggest problem is not Shari’a law.. it is the fact that that any progressive local laws that are designed to protect women are miraculously not reinforced… what is the point of having laws in a country when there is no rule of law? What stops us from becoming a lynching nation?

Let’s take a look at the Moroccan Mudawana just to see how they have given women rights but respected Shari’a law. Moroccan’s describe this law as follows:

It is a modern Family Law consistent with the tolerant spirit of Islam and “lifting the iniquity imposed on women, protecting children’s rights, and safeguarding men’s dignity.”

This law includes the following articles… which I found fascinating… but what is great about the mudawana is that it is enforced

Equality:

o  Husband and wife share joint responsibility for the family;

o  The wife is no longer legally obliged to obey her husband;

o  The adult woman is entitled to self-guardianship, rather than that of a male family member, and may exercise it freely and independently;

o  The minimum age of marriage is 18 for both men and women.

Divorce:

o  The right to divorce is a prerogative of both men and women, exercised under judicial supervision;

o  The principle of divorce by mutual consent is established.

Polygamy:

o  Polygamy is subject to the judge’s authorization and to stringent legal conditions, making the practice nearly impossible;

o  The woman has the right to impose a condition in the marriage contract requiring that her husband refrain from taking other wives;

o  If there is no pre-established condition, the first wife must be informed of her husband’s intent to remarry, the second wife must be informed that her husband-to-be is already married, and moreover, the first wife may ask for a divorce due to harm suffered.

Enforcement of Law:

o  The Family Law assigns a key role to the judiciary in upholding the rule of law and provides for the public prosecutor to be a party to every legal action involving the enforcement of Family Law stipulations.

Children’s Rights:

o  The woman is given the possibility of retaining custody of her child even upon remarrying or moving out of the area where her husband lives;

o  The child’s right to acknowledgment of paternity is protected in that case that the marriage has not been officially registered.

Maybe a couple of women should die for the laws are enforced… oops, they already do! I wonder if it is time for Jordanian women to fight for their own rights?