JORDAN: Report Cites Female Acceptance of Domestic Abuse
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Physical violence against women is rampant in impoverished areas |
AMMAN, 1 Jun 2006 (IRIN) - Women’s rights activists said on
Thursday that they were “horrified but not surprised” to learn that a majority
of single women in the kingdom approved of physical punishment by husbands for
disciplinary reasons.
“It’s unimaginable that women's dignity has sunk to
the level of accepting humiliation and beatings,” said Adab Saud, a member of
parliament and women’s rights activist.
A health ministry study released
on 30 May revealed that 53 percent of unmarried women accept the idea of
physical punishment, compared to only 40 percent of their male counterparts. The
study further showed that some 45 percent of married men and women also approve
of the phenomena.
Women’s rights activists said the study served to
reflect the magnitude of “the social tribulations in the kingdom” and represents
“a wake up call” to the government and civil society.
Activist Reem Abu
Hassan, for one, believes the findings should be met by government efforts to
establish a system to protect women from domestic abuse, adding that Jordan’s
current legal system does not encourage victims of domestic violence to come
forward. “If a woman complains to authorities, the husband will be sent to
jail,” said Reem. “This isn’t an option, because no woman wants to put her
husband behind bars – she only wants him to stop beating her.”
Reem
believes that the government should join hands with civil society to establish a
policy of educating both men and women, from all levels of society, on the ills
of domestic abuse. “We must protect the victims and the abusers, otherwise women
won’t want to complain and abuses will continue to be internalised,” she
said.
Every year, an average of 25 women are killed by family members for
having sex out of wedlock, in what is commonly known in the Middle East as
“honour crime”. Men who commit honour killings usually receive light sentences
of between six months and one year in prison.
Another study released on
the same day, conducted by the Queen Zein al-Sharaf Institute for Development
and the United Nations Population Fund, indicated that 65 percent of citizens
living in impoverished areas attest to physical violence against women in their
communities.
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