Jordan Times
Monday, March 15, 2004

UNIFEM report launched

By Dalya Dajani

Commemorating International Women's Day here, UN agencies, women's advocacy groups and UNIFEM Goodwill Ambassador HRH Princess Basma took stock of the findings of a new national study that painted a clearer picture of the struggles facing local woman.

UNIFEM's report on the “Status of Jordanian Women: Demography, Economic Participation, Political Participation and Violence,” showed that while many strides were made to enhance women's rights through improved legislation and greater advocacy, progress will continue to be hampered by gender inequities.

According to the report, compiled jointly with the Department of Statistics and the Jordanian National Council for Women, a woman's potential to contribute to her own well-being and that of her community continue to be bogged down by social and cultural factors.

For one, while women's economic activity nearly doubled from 3.3 per cent to 7.7 per cent between 1979 and 2002, their economic participation continues to lag behind that of males.

Moreover, around 54 per cent of these female job seekers spent seven or more months searching for work compared with 43.7 per cent of males in 2001.

The average monthly income for men in the public and private sector is higher than that for women — JD238 and JD211 respectively, according to the 2001 employment survey.

Princess Basma yesterday highlighted women's increasing participation in the labour force as a promising sign towards economic empowerment.

“Unemployment is a challenge facing both men and women in Jordan, the rate among women, however is worrying and I believe it is important to try to explore the reasons behind this... Whether this is due to lack of qualifications required by the labour market, or to discriminatory hiring procedures by employers, this needs to be looked into,” she added.

The Princess also suggested that researchers examine why most women are largely centred in the sectors of education (41 per cent) and health (18 per cent), instead of venturing into other fields.

But while education and economic empowerment are important tools for a country's progress, so is respect for women's rights to take charge of their lives, according to UNDP Resident Representative Christine McNab.

Abuse of women's rights

Touching upon women rights, McNab yesterday pointed out the importance of women's education not only as a “political asset” for a country's development, but one that makes women more aware of their rights.

“A lot of strides have been taken over the past decade to improve the status of women around the world, some higher than we'd ever aspired to. But there is often a darker side to this,” said McNab.

Citing 2003 Amnesty International statistics, the UNDP official noted abuse as a prevailing plague in the lives of women around the world.

“The report finds that two out of three women will experience abuse at the hands of an angry or controlling person at least once in their lifetime,” said McNab,

The UNIFEM report painted a grim reality in the plight of Jordanian women who fall victim to abuse.

According to the report, physical abuse figured as the highest form of abuse at 42 per cent in 2002. Educated women were however less susceptible to acts of violence, with this segment constituting only 1 per cent of physical abuse victims.

Interestingly, while physical aggression decreased from 20 per cent in 1998 to 10 per cent in 2002, the percentage of sexual aggression increased from 61 per cent to about 88 per cent in 2000.

Social violence, whereby a woman's freedom is limited — by forbidding her to leave the house, forcing her to marry a man or forbidding her to express her opinion — comprises one third of the total amount of these cases.

Perhaps this can be attributed to prevailing attitudes.

Data found that 45 per cent of parents continue to regard sons as being more important than daughters. Moreover, 37 per cent of the Kingdom's youth aged between 10-24 years agree with that attitude.

Princess Basma commended the concerted efforts to create what she described as a “valuable addition to Jordanian literature on women,” and expressed hope it would serve policy-makers with “food for thought.” She did, however, urge researchers and academics to examine the input more closely in order to address these prevailing issues effectively.

UNIFEM officials also hoped the study would help guide policy-makers in their implementation of the national Millennium Development Goals. Jordan, with some 180 countries, committed itself to these objectives set forth by the UNDP last year to reduce poverty, enhance social equity and employment.

During yesterday's ceremony, UNDP paid a special tribute to Minister of State and Government Spokesperson Asma Khader who has dedicated her energies towards protection of women's rights and poverty reduction over the past 25 years. Khader was awarded the UNDP Poverty Eradication Award in October 2003.

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