December 1, 2004

Jordan Times

Unfortunate Comments

Editorial

When an elected member of Parliament says during a conference on combating "honour crimes" that it is women's fault that these crimes continue to be perpetrated, and accuses women of contributing to or rather causing adultery, then we in Jordan are in deep trouble. The idea behind the conference was to attempt to change attitudes and perceptions that killing women to cleanse the honour of a family is an acceptable practice. The conference focused particularly on Jordanian youth. This much Ahmad Obeidat, chairman of the board of trustees of the National Centre for Human Rights, said during the opening hours of the conference.

For Deputy Mahmoud Kharabsheh to have been invited to speak at such a conference was a grave miscalculation. When a member of the audience objected to Kharabsheh's statements, describing them as disparaging to all women, he maintained his position, adding that if women were not the instigators of adulterous acts, men would not find women with whom to commit adultery.

Thus, if some of our parliamentary representatives still believe that Article 340 of the Penal Code should remain unamended, and therefore allow legal room for sentences against perpetrators of honour crimes to be commuted or reduced, then changing perceptions and attitudes is going to have to begin with parliamentarians. They are the officials responsible for the discriminatory Article 340.

Pathetic was also the suggestion that Zionism and Western organisations stand behind the struggle against honour crimes.

Several countries around the world have the unfortunate reality of dealing with honour crimes. Among them is Turkey, where a women's rights organisation has worked for the repeal of several articles to that country's penal code which those accused of honour killings have used to get reduced sentences.

If in the 21st century honour killings can continue to go unpunished and men can claim that a woman's "behaviour" provoked him to commit such murder, women have a very long way to go in achieving their rights.