Jordanian Women in the Context of Conflict Prevention & Resolution
Jordan has taken several steps towards enhancing and expanding the role of women in peace-building through capacity building of competent gender sensitive cadre in the humanitarianresponse field. Which comes inline with the (2018-2021) Jordanian National Action Plan (JONAP), which aims to advance the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (UNSCR 1325), and its subsequent resolutions. This National Action Plan was developed to respond to the political and security related developments and is in line with “Jordan’s commitments to promote and respect human rights, justice, equality and participation—all of which are embodied in various national frameworks, such as The National Strategy for Jordanian Women (2013-2017) and The Comprehensive National Plan for Human Rights (2016-2025). This research comes as part of the project “INDICASERE: Research, Capacity building, Awareness and Resilience of the Syrian host communities,” conducted by Arab Renaissance for Democracy Development ARDD, in cooperation with NOVACT, International Institute for Nonviolent Action, and funded by the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation (ACCD). The report aims to highlight important challenges facing women regarding their role in society in general, and their role in promoting community security and stability in conflicts and crises in particular. Economic factors and economic violence are among the most important obstacles women face in exercising their desired role in this regard. In the context of diagnosing and investigating the prevention of violent extremism and the resolution of conflicts, peace building and social cohesion, ARDD undertook methods of quantitative and qualitative analysis. As an initial qualitative needs assessment prior to the survey, ARDD held focus group discussions in the three localities (Zarqa, East Amman and Karak). These discussions heeded a great deal of insight into the mindsets of women in these communities, which included reflections on subjects such as economic challenges, the negative stereotyping of women, environmental factors that contribute to conflict or violence, and the interplay of power relations and dynamics on various levels. The quantitative component of the research was centered on a survey that aimed to establish how women in Jordan are enabled to or deterred from playing a positive role in conflict resolution, home and community peace building, and social resilience/cohesion within the context of the prevention of violent extremism (PVE). The research builds on the theory that the women’s well-being and security are what enhance their ability to exercise their role. These factors are, primarily: social Relationships and social participation, mental and physical health, emotional wellbeing and inner contentment, bodily integrity, work, meaningful daily activities, feeling of self-worth, economy and resources, financial material wellbeing, independence, sense of belonging, personal safety, quality of environment, home and local community, laws and policies, culture and societal attitudes, and beliefs. It was conducted through a household survey among a pilot sample of 1228 single and married women ages 15-49 in East Amman, Zarqa and Karak. The research found that the vast majority of women surveyed believe that the most influential factors are economic factors, such as lack of employment opportunities, low income, widening the gap between the poor and the rich, and the spread of favoritism, religious factors such as lack of adherence to true religious teachings, widespread misinterpretation of religious teachings in schools, social factors represented by the lack of tolerance, non-acceptance of diversity, widespread hate speech, as well as factors related to family relations, such as family imbalances and disintegration, and domestic violence. With regard to creating an enabling environment for women, only 10% of women believe that the living conditions surrounding them enable them to achieve their aspirations and in terms of economic participation 81% of the women targeted by the research state that they suffer from unemployment. As the research shows, women’s civic and public participation is low. With regard to women’s perception of themselves and society’ s view, which determines their motivation and willingness to exercise their role in the community, the research showed that 83% of the women targeted believe that women are emotional by nature and have weak personality. Finally, the report emphasizes the important role of women in community-based peace-building efforts and the prevention of violence. It also calls for concerted efforts by the State, civil society and non-governmental organizations, to strengthen alliances based on grassroots localized humanitarian action to win support, and to facilitate joint action to enable women’s access to justice, which is a prerequisite for women to attain all their rights, and to enable them to access resources and opportunities by ensuring her equal participation economically and in decision making. In addition, the report calls to enhance women’s confidence and self-image, and recognize the role of economic and political empowerment in reducing all forms of violence. In addition to taking advantage of social media’s potential in spreading messages, raising awareness in these regards.
Analyzing Women’s Access to Justice
Challenges to women’s access to justice are considered one of the main reasons for the prevalence of economic violence against women. This was made evident by the 4th Perspective paper titled “Analyzing Women’s Access to Justice” which was launched as part of the Arab Renaissance of Democracy and Development (ARDD)’s participation in the National Campaign “16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence” calling to stop economic violence against women. As part of ARDD’s efforts to promote the rule of law and facilitate access to justice for all individuals in Jordan and the Arab region, this report seeks to understand and address the many levels and complexities related to women’s access to justice within the framework of gender justice, which also includes political ,social and economic justice. Denying women access to justice allows economic violence in all its forms from restriction, discrimination against women and exclusion to prevail. Although Jordan has taken a number of steps to promote women’s participation in politics by reforming the legal and institutional framework – such as the establishment of the Jordanian National Commission for Women – and ratifying international conventions that support gender equality, cultural stigma and the need to formalize women’s rights constitute obstacles to women to obtain a political identity that allows her equal access to justice. This paper also calls for the study of the framework of different ways in which the law is dealt with, including legal instruments related to employment, social security, marriage, economic participation, health, education, citizenship, etc., and how it is also formulated by analyzing women’s access to justice based on the six fundamental principles. These are litigation, access to the justice system, availability and quality of services, meaningful remedies, and accountability of the justice system, which make out ARDD’s framework of inquiry. Further, this paper aims to shed insight into the nature of women’s engagement with the justice system and aims to identify gaps from a variety of different perspectives. Within the analysis, reference is made to ARDD’s surveys, with Jordanians and Syrian refugees, on public perceptions and satisfaction regarding the justice system through four main dimensions: navigability, affordability, timeliness, and fairness. While the surveys showed some similarities between men and women, upon closer analysis, gendered differences are observed in relation to these dimensions. The outcomes present further insight into the differences between perception (of those who have not engaged with the justice system or a specific component of it) and satisfaction (of those who have experience with the justice system or a specific component of it). Essentially, this difference can be seen as a potential deterrent factor to access the justice system, and could be mitigated through awareness raising and facilitated access to information. In terms of refugees access to justice – and women refugees, in particular, this paper highlights that refugees currently residing in Jordan face many of the same issues faced by the local community in terms of access to justice, these are often exacerbated by other issues such as a lack of awareness, being unable to afford legal services, and the prioritization of things regarded as necessities over legal issues. This reaffirms the importance of working towards access to justice for refugees through both the facilitation of prompt and adequate access to legal information, and through directly increasing their access to justice through legal aid services. In terms of Syrian refugee women, in particular, key findings include the reality that Syrian refugee women are less likely than their male counterparts to pursue legal action, or even alternative dispute resolution methods, among others, due to reported sociocultural pressures, such as the culture of ‘aib’ (culture of shame). Furthermore, challenges relating to women’s access to justice at the individual, community and institutional/structural level are identified. These levels of challenges can be understood by analyzing the various aspects of the functionality of government, civil society, and policy frameworks. In this respect, when personal status laws are analyzed in parallel to penal codes, the unequal treatment of women becomes increasingly evident, especially in terms of provisions related to honor crimes, rape, and adultery. ARDD argues for the establishment of an enabling environment as essential to women’s access to justice. For ARDD, an enabling environment refers to full range of socio-cultural, political, or economic conditions in a society that enable or hinder access to justice. One of these approaches is the pursuit of effective adoption and revision of national legal instruments in line with international human rights standards, bearing in mind the economic implications related to the status of women. Another key component is the strengthening of trust between justice institutions and persons of concern. In addition, while equally important and relevant, sensitization to remove restrictive social norms is perhaps the most complex component of establishing an enabling environment for women’s access to justice. ARDD reaffirms that it is important to empower instruments of the justice system in terms of communication and outreach in order to effectively engage women. Ultimately, through effective solidarity and partnerships and effective engagement on the political, legal, and economic levels, the feasibility of achieving an enabling environment by expanding and enhancing women’s access to justice can be increased. Additionally, both the limited availability and low accessibility of legal aid indicates that the institutional legal aid system in Jordan needs further support and expansion to be able to meet the needs of women and people in Jordan. Throughout ARDD’s experience in the Regional Women’s Access to Justice, there were clear findings on the core relationship between the political identity of women and their ability to access to Justice. Further, and in line with the UN’s Women, Peace, and Security agenda, ARDD stresses that women’s full participation is critical to achieving and sustaining peace and stability within a community – and that this participation is also an undeniable component of women’s access to justice. More research is needed to build analysis on this, and on how religion, economy, and politics are central components of the reality of access to justice for women.
Between Poverty and Prison: The Challenges of Debt among Vulnerable Women in Jordan
This study was released in ARDDs event on “World Refugee Day, June 20, 2019. This study is part of the project entitled, “Women`s Access to Economic Justice Through Legal Empowerment” Supported by Ford Foundation . The study comes as the last out of three studies the project included: 1/3 Women’s Employment in Jordan: Perspectives to Barriers Facing Syrian Refugee and Host Community Women in Accessing the Labor Market 2/3 Women’s Employment in Jordan: Workplace Practices through the eyes of Jordanian and Syrian refugee women, Jordanian employers and ARDD legal team
YOU HAVE A CHANCE: Rethinking Women’s Economic Empowerment in Jordan
A host of international, governmental and civil society actors in Jordan have all undertaken the difficult challenge of fostering women’s economic empowerment across the Kingdom. Women’s economic empowerment is key to sustainable and inclusive development. When we think of the “economically empowered” women, however, we often envision a woman going to a market and selling goods for a profit, starting her own business, or leaving her home five days a week to work in an office, and industry, etc…. In either case, our indicator of economic empowerment relies on a market-oriented concept of productivity that is measured by women’s ability to generate income. This measurement of women’s economic empowerment, unwittingly implies that if women do not generate income, the unpaid care work they provide for their families when they stay at home is of no value. In the context of Jordan, this report makes us think how this construction of the “economically empowered” woman does not cohere with the realities of impoverished women in Jordan. In fact, for many of the women documented in this report, such a construction of empowerment is irrelevant, impractical, and in the worst cases, contributes to further disempowerment by worsening women’s feelings of self-worth. Thus, our measurement of women’s economic empowerment, and strategies we use to achieve it, although well-intentioned, remain insufficient.