As a Woman, I’m a Second Class Citizen in Jordan

August 18, 2011 at 4:31 pm · Filed under Amman, Seriously

Article 6 (i) of our Constitution stipulates: “There shall be no
discrimination between Jordanians as regards to their rights and duties
on grounds of race, language or religion”.

Amazingly enough, in a country with a very limited racial pool, an even more limited language pool, and an almost non-existent pool of different religions, the one factor that would affect 50% of our country’s population has been left out: Gender.

Granted, many constitutions don’t directly use the word “gender” in their constitutions, but the omission of this specific word is affecting our rights as Jordanian woman. Yes, in Jordan, as women, we can vote, we can work and move freely, we can hold governmental positions, and we can do a lot of what we want with our lives. But some essential rights are lacking.

1. As a Jordanian woman, I am equal to a Jordanian man. I MUST be able to give my Jordanian nationality, i.e. my IDENTITY as a Jordanian, to my children. As a Jordanian woman, I am proud of being a Jordanian woman. As a Jordanian woman, I want my children to also be Jordanian.

2. As a woman, the Personal Status Law fails to adequately address discrimination against me.

3. As a woman, Articles 97, 98, 100, 340, and 345 affect my safety and my well-being in my own country.

As a Jordanian woman, I demand that our Constitution, which is currently undergoing changes, to also consider the silent half of our country.






  • Dave

    It’s hard to believe (and yet at the same time, not) that this issue has remained pretty much ignored after all these years.

    Don’t forget that your testimony means less than a man’s in court, as well. :s

  • http://www.atexplorer.com Mohammed Al-shara

    100% agree. this is an important part that needs serious reconsideration. would be interesting to read what Articles 97, 98, 100, 340, and 345 say. can you post a translation to those articles for your non-Arabic speaking readers, and for those who consider reading long pieces of Arabic text inconvenient? :s

  • Roba

    Dave, are you sure about that? From what I understand, in Sharia court (matters of marriage, etc.), that is true, but in civil court (everything else) it’s the same as a mans. No?

  • http://ghaidazahran.com Ghaida Zahran

    It’s pretty amazing that this is still an issue, especially in a country that prides itself in its progressive laws. Apparently there is much for me to learn about my country.

  • http://www.kinziblogs.wordpress.com kinzi

    Oh wow, Roba. How can I forget this stuff so easily? Life seems so… normal, but a Jordanian woman can ‘confer’ American citizenship just by giving birth there. Something’s just not right.

  • Hani Obaid

    The citizenship issue is bigger than that. The biggest % of jordanian women who marry foreigners marry Palestinians, Egyptians, syrians or Iraqis. The excuse is that they don’t want men of these nationalities to consider Jordan their new home (particularly Palestinians). Logically you would ask if yhis is the case why are the men allowed to do it? The answer it follows the extremely sexist model Islam lays put where its ok for a muslim man to marry a christian but not vice versa because it is assumed the mans religion will be dominant. Islam is of course sexist in many other aspects like inheritance where a son is given twice as much inheritance than a daughter when a parent dies. Sexism, religion, superstition, and backwardness will always go hand in hand.

  • Yaz

    I personally think the reason why Jordanian women will probably never be able to pass their citizenship to their children is becaise of Jordan’s political dilemmas and obstacles… It’s more of a political concern than of a a woman’s rights or needs.

  • http://iraqiguy.blogspot.com/ Nasser

    Please share with us the contents of articles 97, 98, 100, 340 and 345

  • khalid jarrar

    @Hani Obaid:

    What a ray of sunshine of open minde-ness, deep knowledge and tolerance towards 95% of your Muslim follow citizens you are! you made up my day with your hilarious sketch of analyses.

    This is not a place to debate or educate of course, but i would be glad to help you through some references to acquire some insight about at least the boarder lines of the topics you skimmed through (For examples: Should Men Be Dominant? What is it about Islam and shahada of women? what’s that about women inheriting half of men’s share?)

    I honestly believe if anyone bashing Islam spent half the time spent talking about Islam to actually learn Islam itself, we would have way less religious driven conflicts and tension around the world, heck even a lot less intolerance of the kind you demonstrate to the followers of Islam in Jordan (what’s the percentage of Muslims in Jordan now around 96-97%?), and elsewhere around the world.

    @Roba “consider the silent half of our country”
    I just have to point out, it is nearly illegal to refer to women as “silent” :D Its one quality your half of the population can not possibly claim:P

  • http://hani101.com Hani Obaid

    Hello khalid,

    I disrespect the idea and not the people you mentioned seeing as my own parents are part of that percentage. If you really understand the “broader lines” behind the ideas opposed; I mentioned 2 specific ones although there are others, feel free to explain your point of view about them rather than just feign general indignation.

    Robas post was not about Islam but about the constitution and the rights of women, however since as you mentioned the country is predominantly Muslim, that plays a large part in setting the culture, the laws and the mindset of the people. So it’s quite relevant to point out the intersection between Islam, our culture, and constitution.

    Understand the difference between intolerance and simple disagreement where an intolerant person targets the people and not the idea.

    Thanks

  • http://meshx86.wordpress.com Mesh

    ya3ni howwe el kol beddo ye7ki, ana beddi a7ki bardo.. wo beddi asha3ber bel 3arabi :P

    ana moslim, bas mosh metdayyen, ok kont x-shee5 some day, but now i consider my self as open minded..

    am with hani regarding why Jordanian women can’t give citizenship to their children from a foreign husbands is a purely political issue (regardless of thinking of it positively as protecting Palestine from reversed immigration or negatively which no need to give an example for).

    taking things literally from the religion and explain it blindly is a very bad idea, i don’t want to turn this topic into “dars deen” bas I’ll give you an example: (please bear with me its about woman rights too)

    My Aunts who are conservative and religious and prays 5 times a day, is upset about the inheritance rule, as my both uncles got 2x their share, and how my uncle’s wives are actually enjoying that money which my aunts solely believe it’s unfair.

    Taking into consideration that one of my aunts is not married, turns the picture upside down, and for a religion surface viewer; would consider it grossly unfair.

    A combination of the following Islamic instructions solves the problem completely:
    1. لا يؤمن احدكم حتى يحبّ لاخيه ما يحبّ لنفسه
    2.
    وَاعْبُدُواْ اللّهَ وَلاَ تُشْرِكُواْ بِهِ شَيْئاً وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَاناً وَبِذِي الْقُرْبَى وَالْيَتَامَى وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَالْجَارِ ذِي الْقُرْبَى وَالْجَارِ الْجُنُبِ وَالصَّاحِبِ بِالجَنبِ وَابْنِ السَّبِيلِ وَمَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ إِنَّ اللّهَ لاَ يُحِبُّ مَن كَانَ مُخْتَالاً فَخُوراً [النساء 36]
    Ya3ni even there is a Sura called Al-Nesa’a (The Women), while there is no such thing for the men.

    ma 3leena, suppose the following cases:

    A. My aunt was poor, then what ever alms my uncle pays out should go first to his parents (R.I.P), then yea, his sister my aunt, and of course she will be thankful, and the warmth of family will make everybody is happy.

    B. My aunt isn’t poor, but she doesn’t own a house (or an iphone) while my uncle and his wife do, if Islamic rules are followed, and their inner conscience isn’t sleep, and they are truly believers, they should wish for their brothers and sisters what they wish for themselves and thus help her buying a house (or an iphone), and again everybody is happy

    C. if a man is cheap, he’ll inherit his unmarried sister anyways in the end!, if not him, his children, ya3ni heyye heyye, if not whatever helped his sister with, doubled in price, e3tebro investment! (thinking in a very sick way)

    D. And even if she is married, why feel unfair ?! 32asas she will mind her husband taking the 2x share of her kenneh ?! ? I don’t think so ! lol

    Ta5ayyal yar3ak allah, enno A & B applies to all Muslims (brothers), tab3an akeed 3la nafs el sequence el mathkoor salfan bel awalaweyye..

    Seems very ideal wo 3abee6 ? am not impressed, this is Ehsan, this is what all religions implements, I don’t think there is any religion in the world, that doesn’t implies helping others, and doing good, otherwise we’re back to talking animals.

    2gollak, even if am not a believer, I would still love drawing smile on peoples faces, I would still like to apply justice and righteousness everywhere .. that’s Fetra (فطرة), the firmware of every human being..

    Ba3deen forsa our Jordanian constitution was a copy and paste of British’s old constitution?
    wo forsa in the medieval they considered the woman as an animal not human being !

    just another opinion.. wo sorry 3al baradeh

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