Jordan Times
Thursday, March 25, 2004
Arab Women meet in Amman on human rights and security issues
AMMAN (Petra) — A group of 70 court judges and lawyers from 13 Arab states yesterday commenced a three-day orientation workshop on dealing with cases connected with human rights and security.
In an address at the opening session, Minister of State and Government
Spokesperson Asma Khader said statistics and socio-economic and cultural
research studies all point to the existence of disparities between men and women
with regard to human rights.
Women around the world suffer from high rates of illiteracy and in general have
limited role in the economic field, in primary healthcare, and many are deprived
of the right to ownership, free expression and participation in decision making,
according to Khader.
Some Arab states started re-examining legislation concerned with women's rights
30 years ago and took steps to end all forms of discrimination against women,
which led to an increase in women's participation in state authorities, said
Khader.
Arab civil status laws show clear disparity between men and women's rights,
requiring amendments in the light of the rising rate of literacy among women and
their participation in social and economic life, said Khader.
Despite the fact that 16 Arab countries have endorsed a law ending
discrimination against women, little or no application of he law has taken
place, according to the minister.