For a healthier society and a culture of tolerance

Jordan just abolished Article 308 of the Penal Code, which permitted a rapist to marry his victim, aged 15 to 18, 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 girl being forcibly married to her rapist to protect her family’s “honour”.

As one victim 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 August 1, a sit-in was held outside 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 many other women 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 were the amendments suggested during the debate.

Certain female MPs proved to have questionable stances during the debate. For example, the former social development minister was cited as objecting to the abolishment of the law.

She said 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 the act is inherently without consent.

A number of participants also put forth alternatives to the abolishment, for example, extending the duration of the marriage contract from three to seven years before charges are dropped.

Should lawmakers have had the intent to protect the victims and punish their perpetrators, this debate would not have been 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. Moreover, there is little room for women to participate in socioeconomic spaces.

This type of law is not the exception, but one of many similar articles in all Arab countries, including Tunisia, Morocco and Lebanon until this past February.

In Egypt, 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.

During a lecture on gender-based violence, held recently for women in East Amman by the West Asia-North Africa (WANA) Institute, 98 per cent of the participants responded “yes” to the question: “Is a husband permitted to hit his wife if he is antagonised?”

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, and pushes women to accept this behaviour.

While there are many development and human security programmes attempting to encourage female socioeconomic and political participation, women are often reluctant to participate. The deeply infused ideas of traditional society have not been sufficiently challenged to see great successes from these attempts.

As a result, women are still not empowered enough to intervene in deviant behaviour at home and bypass 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 benefits from female empowerment. Women’s interventions 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 prevented their children from making poor decisions, such as travelling to Syria and Iraq to join Daesh.

Countering violent extremism literature increasingly points to the need to strengthen mothers’ capacity to deter their 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 negative phenomena and protect their offspring.

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 for inducing a culture of tolerance.

The writer is a researcher at the WANA Institute, specialising in human security and countering violent extremism. She contributed this article to The Jordan Times.