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Amnesty International urges Jordan to stop imprisoning women for defying men, ignores root cause of the problem

Oct 25, 2019 2:00 pm By Robert Spencer

“Under the male ‘guardianship’ system, which Amnesty said is at the centre of a web of discriminatory provisions, men are empowered to control ‘women’s lives and limit their personal freedoms’, while women could be subjected to degrading practices such as ‘virginity tests’, aimed at determining whether they’ve had sex outside marriage.”

All right. But where does this male guardianship system come from? From Islamic law: “[A] woman may not leave the city without her husband or a member of her unmarriageable kin accompanying her, unless the journey is obligatory, like the hajj. It is unlawful for her to travel otherwise, and unlawful for her husband to allow her to.” (Reliance of the Traveller m10.3)

That looks like controlling women’s lives and limiting their personal freedoms, but Amnesty International will never be so “Islamophobic” to notice, and so will never address why Jordan does these things, and why it won’t stop doing them.

“Jordan urged to stop imprisoning women for defying the wishes of men,” by Saeed Kamali Dehghan, Guardian, October 24, 2019:

Amnesty International has called on Jordan to end what it has described as an abusive system that jails women if they disobey their male “guardians” or have relationships deemed inappropriate.

Despite recent efforts to give women better protections, Amnesty said in a new report published on Wednesday that Jordan still allows the arbitrary detention of women, including when male family members – usually fathers or brothers – complain to the authorities that they have been absent without permission.

Under the male “guardianship” system, which Amnesty said is at the centre of a web of discriminatory provisions, men are empowered to control “women’s lives and limit their personal freedoms”, while women could be subjected to degrading practices such as “virginity tests”, aimed at determining whether they’ve had sex outside marriage.

The report accuses the Jordanian state of applying “coercive and penal power to reinforce male guardianship, effectively colluding with male guardians to ensure male control” over women.

Women can also be forcibly separated from their children if their babies are seen as “illegal”, when they are the result of an unsanctioned relationship. In Jordan, women require permission from a male guardian to get married if they are under 30 and sex outside marriage is punishable by up to three years in prison.

Similar practices are prevalent across the Middle East, but Amnesty’s 64-page report – which interviewed 121 people, including women held in Juwaideh prison, the country’s main women’s jail – shows they are also taking place in Jordan, billed as a relatively safe and friendly country in an otherwise volatile region.

In 2017, Jordan joined an increasing number of Arab countries in scrapping laws that allowed rapists to escape punishment provided they marry their victims.

Amnesty said the country has in recent years carried out a number of reforms, including opening the Dar Amneh safety house for women at risk in July 2018, but the authorities continue to misuse the 1954 crime prevention law….

Sawsan (not her real name) was jailed for more than a year simply for fleeing her abusive father, according to Amnesty. “I was stopped on the street in Amman and the police asked me for my ID. I didn’t have it, so they said I had to come to their station, but when I got there they found a warrant for my arrest because I was ‘absent’,” she said. “The two police officers there beat me … I was taken to the governor’s deputy … He said I would go to Juwaideh prison until my father bails me out.”

Ola (not her real name) encountered problems after hospital staff called the police to report her for being pregnant outside marriage.

“I got pregnant and tried to marry the man. But the marriage wasn’t approved because I have no guardian,” she said. “My parents are dead, and I just have younger sisters, no brothers … I went to hospital and gave birth. The hospital asked if I was married and I said: ‘No’, so then they called the police. That’s how I ended up here.”…

At least 85 women have been held in administrative detention so far this year for sex outside marriage “to ensure their protection”, the prime minister’s office said, claiming that the majority had been released.

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Filed Under: Jordan, women's rights in Islam Tagged With: Amnesty International


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Comments

  1. tgusa says

    Oct 25, 2019 at 3:45 pm

    I do believe that Amnesty International is a leftwing organization. Perhaps Amnesty should accept the things they cannot change, give up and get on board the islamic ideology bandwagon. Why not, most of western leftist leadership already have. In the west there is really no fight against islamic ideology at this time. The west is more concerned about offending islamic sensitivities and that means islamic ideology. As it stands today this is a battle preparing to be lost. This may be the worst battle plan against a determined enemy ever constructed. It is a sad state of affairs indeed.

  2. Angemon says

    Oct 25, 2019 at 4:24 pm

    Amnesty International has called on Jordan to end what it has described as an abusive system that jails women if they disobey their male “guardians” or have relationships deemed inappropriate.

    Abusive, but not unislamic…

  3. gravenimage says

    Oct 25, 2019 at 9:10 pm

    Amnesty International urges Jordan to stop imprisoning women for defying men, ignores root cause of the problem
    …………………

    Yes–women can be beaten, imprisoned, and murdered for defying men. This is orthodox Islam.

  4. elee says

    Oct 26, 2019 at 1:53 am

    So what now, is the west supposed to come rescue the damsels in distress? Interbvene in 30 million Muslim bedrooms? And will they suicide-bomb us then to fight for their own enslavement? Hey libbers, youve got your damned movement, go move Jordan. You dont like white men, remember? Yeah, lets be multicultural, no culltural imperialism, remember? Hope youre enjoying your dar-es-salaam.

    • gravenimage says

      Oct 26, 2019 at 11:03 pm

      Not all people who believe in equal rights for women are like this.

  5. FYI says

    Oct 26, 2019 at 10:47 am

    “illegal babies”:How can an infant be classified as such?

    It is not as if an infant has any say in being the product of “an unsanctioned relationship”.

    {Someone once said that there should be are no such thing as “illegitimate” children only illegitimate parents}

    • Carol the 1st says

      Oct 26, 2019 at 10:50 pm

      Sounds like koncerned kafir thoughts. Islam gives little hoot about the babes, it just can’t allow the female to be rewarded in any way for acting as though the macho millstone lost its grip upon her neck.

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