Jordan Times
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Queen Rania attends launch of ‘Stop Violence Against Women' Campaign
Discrimination, violence against women not tolerated by Islam - Tamimi
By Rana Husseini
AMMAN, March 23 - Chief Islamic Justice Sheikh Izzedine Al Khatib Al Tamimi said Monday that violence against women were never part of the Islamic religion.
Tamimi, also His Majesty King Abdullah's adviser on religious affairs, added that violence against women and children, as well as discrimination against women was not tolerated by Islam.
Tamimi was addressing a gathering of religious leaders, officials and representatives of civil institutions attending the launch of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa campaign to Stop Violence Against Women.
“The Islamic religion is clear about achieving equality for both women and men under certain Sharia conditions that ensure their protection from harmful practices against them. There is no differentiation between men and women in religion,” Tamimi emphasized.
Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan, who also spoke during the ceremony, said “our campaign gives voice to the millions of women in the world and in the Middle East who suffer from violence simply because they are women.”
Khan referred to women in Iraq who live in daily fear of being kidnapped, raped or murdered amidst continuing insecurity.
“Our campaign also gives voice to the women in the occupied territories of Palestine whose suffering is rarely covered by the media,” Khan added.
Turning to the globe, Khan said violence against women is an international problem with a woman attacked every 15 seconds in the US and two killed every week in the UK.
She noted that there was change in the region, coming from within, through the efforts of those breaking taboos and lobbying for change.
Khan said there was remarkable international respect for Jordan whose Family Protection Management Team won a UN Human Rights Prize for creating a model to address domestic violence issues in the region, helping lift the taboo on the subject of domestic violence and promoting open debate on issues of human rights, equity and gender.
“We in AI are great believers in the power of an ordinary individual to bring about extraordinary change… working together we can make a difference,” Khan said. She added that it is not only women who suffer but also society as a whole, “a nation is like a bird with two wings - if one wing is broken the bird cannot fly.”
The organizers said Jordan was chosen as the venue to launch the six-year regional campaign because of Her Majesty Queen Rania's support and because the Kingdom is known for its active movement in this field.
The gathering listened to two live testimonies from a Moroccan woman who had suffered abuse, and to a Palestinian woman whose child died at a checkpoint when she could not get to a hospital.
Queen Rania, who acted as patron to the event, joined Sheikh Tamimi and Director of the Public Security Department General Tahseen Shurdum in having their hands imprinted on the banner of the campaign.
The campaign aims at tackling issues related to violence against women, generate increased awareness and create a network of specialists to deal with the issue and enable decision makers to take appropriate means to eliminate all kinds of violence against women, whether domestic or in conflict situations.
The launch of the campaign came at the end of a major seminar that gathered activists to discuss ways to eradicate laws and practices that foster violence against women in the region.