Jordan Times
Tuesday, March 8, 2005
Women activists laud
improvements in women's rights
By Rana Husseini
AMMAN — Women activists praised the tangible improvements in women's rights in
the Kingdom on the eve of International Women's Day but noted that much lobbying
needs to be done to change discriminatory legislation.
“There have been major changes in the attitudes of the society and government
towards certain sensitive issues that were rarely discussed in the past,” said
Nadia Shamroukh, vice president of the Jordanian Women's Union.
Shamroukh told The Jordan Times issues such as violence against women and
children and so-called honour crimes are now out in the open.
“We used to feel these issues were taboo but now they are discussed openly and
maturely both by the government and civil society organisations,” Shamroukh
said.
Senator May Abul Samen pointed to several positive legislative changes in favour
of women and recent government appointments as an example of the country's
progress.
Such changes, according to Abul Samen, include a women's quota in the Lower
House, the appointment of seven senators in the 40-seat Upper House and the
naming of four female ministers in the most recent Cabinet.
Abul Samen also highlighted the appointment of Suhair Maaytah as administrative
governor in Amman as an example of increased women's empowerment.
“I consider these to be great achievements and demonstration of the government's
commitment to Their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania vision to empower
women in our society,” Abul Samen said.
The Kingdom introduced a quota system during the 2003 parliamentary elections,
which resulted in the election of six women. Seven women were also appointed the
same year to serve in the Upper House.
Activist and Lawyer Reem Abu Hassan said the Kingdom is creating an environment
conducive to women's empowerment.
“We see a recognition by the state of its obligations towards women's rights
such as the quota system and the government's promise to open the first shelter
for abused women,” Abu Hassan said.
Also, recent appointments in the judiciary, which now has 26 female judges, is a
good sign, added Abu Hassan.
But in terms of employment opportunities women remain at a disadvantage.
According to the Millennium Development Goals Report for Jordan 2004, the
country's Labour Law does not guarantee women equal pay for equal work.
The report said the average hourly rate for males in the private sector was
JD0.81 and JD0.73 for females, while in the public sector it was JD1.26 for
males and JD1.1 for females.
Women are also underrepresented in higher management positions in the public
sector, according to the 2004 United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
report.
The report notes that in 2002 the number of women in such position stood at 217
in comparison to 2,257 males.
Women employed as directors of a department stood at 179, compared with 1,911
men, according to the report.
Shamroukh called on women's organisations to take a united stance to overturn
discriminatory legislation.
She was referring to the Citizenship Law, which allows men to pass on Jordanian
citizenship to their foreign wives and children but denies women the same right.
In 2003, women's rights campaigners suffered a blow when the Lower House twice
rejected the amended Personal Status Law.
The amended law seeks to give women the right to divorce in return for monetary
compensation. Before the law was introduced in 2001, women would often wait up
to five years in the hope that the Sharia Court might grant them a divorce.
The Upper House upheld the government's amendments but no date has been set for
a joint session vote, which will require a two-thirds majority to be passed.
“Women need to feel they are mentally and financially secure in order to be
productive in our society and this can't happen if we still have discriminatory
laws,” columnist and human rights activist Nadia Aloul said.
Women to run country's media institutions today
AMMAN (JT) — In observance of International Women's Day, media institutions
have appointed female co-workers to run the institutions for one day.
Suheir Bushnaq was appointed Al Rai chief editor for the day to mark the
occasion, while Amineh Tayeh was appointed as acting director general/chief
editor of the Jordan News Agency, Petra.
Amman Net decided to appoint Zeinab Bulbul as director general and Sawsan Zaydeh
as responsible editor for today.
Since 1975, International Women's Year, March 8 has been celebrated as
International Women's Day, “to commemorate the historic struggle to improve
women's lives.” It is celebrated around the world at the local and national
levels, according to the UN.
The theme of International Women's Day for 2005 is “Gender equality beyond 2005:
Building a more secure future.”