JORDAN: Limited access to justice for women
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Billboards like this one in Amman are informing citizens about their rights |
AMMAN, 23 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - A three-month long rights campaign
in Jordan has revealed that women are unable to seek access to justice due to
financial burdens and social norms.
“Either because of limited financial
resources or social stigma, some women abandon their rights,” said Jordanian
rights advocate Najah Enab from Mizan, a local NGO which organised the campaign.
“It’s not easy to have access to justice when you’re poor. You need a lawyer,
and not everyone can afford this.”
According to Mizan, lawyers usually
charge between 300 and 500 Jordanian dinars (US $375 and US $625) per case.
While a 1972 Bar Association Law guarantees the provision of legal aid to
low-income citizens, human rights activists say that in practice women are often
deprived of it.
The campaign, which is to finish on 27 February, was
launched by the Ministry of Political Development and Parliamentarian Affairs in
cooperation with Mizan. “Our goal was to raise awareness about each person’s
legal rights and obligations,” said Rula Haddadin, campaign manager at Mizan,
also known as the Law Group for Human Rights. “Since the first days of the
campaign, the number of phone calls we’ve received has increased considerably.”
In addition to a telephone hotline offering free legal advice, hundreds
of billboards, CDs and pocket calendars were distributed in the capital, Amman,
and at universities throughout the country aimed at informing citizens of their
legal rights as enshrined in the constitution. Newspapers, television and radio
spots were also used to spread the message.
Mizan is one of a handful of
NGOs offering free legal aid, and the only one whose lawyers can legally
represent people in court. Between 15 and 20 cases are referred to the NGO per
week, mostly related to family issues such as divorce, children’s custody and
domestic violence.
Earlier this week, women’s rights groups handed a
petition with hundreds of signatures to Parliament calling for draft laws to
protect women from domestic violence.
“We urge parliament to be our
partner in this national effort since the House is the legislative body that can
support our initiatives,” said Fotouh Younis, project coordinator at the
National Forum for Youth and Culture. “It is important to build bridges between
civil society and parliament on the issue of domestic violence,” she
added.
There are many gaps in Jordanian law with regard to women’s
rights, according to US-based democracy watchdog, Freedom House (FH). There are
no laws specifically defining or criminalising domestic violence and few
enforcement mechanisms to ensure gender equality. Gender-discriminatory language
can also be found in provisions regulating economic rights, such as retirement
and social security, as well as in laws governing the family.
Jordan
ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination
Against Women in 1992, with a number of reservations. These preclude the
government from being legally obliged to observe the equal rights of women in a
number of areas, including with regard to the nationality of their children,
freedom of movement, rights and responsibilities during marriage and at its
dissolution, and the right to choose a family name and profession.
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