Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Activists in the women’s movement on Saturday said they are hopeful this year will bring more advancement for women, since the achievements witnessed in 2014 fell below aspirations.

“We did not witness any substantial achievement to advance women’s status in Jordan last year,” said Asma Khader, an activist and lawyer.

On the contrary, the former minister added, women’s representation in several fields decreased.

“We had two female secretaries general at two ministries; one retired and the other was referred to retirement and no women were appointed to such posts last year.”

Turning to the labour market, Khader noted that women’s participation dropped from 14.7 per cent in 2013 to 14 per cent in 2014, which is a decline “that we did not anticipate”.

“We realise that the economic factor and the rising number of refugees shifted priorities in Jordan but I believe it should not have affected women’s participation in the labour market or decision-making posts,” she said.

Another disappointment, according to Khader, was the appointment of only three women among the 130 board members of 10 public universities.

“These disappointing factors along with many of the laws that still discriminate against women are not a positive sign and do not reflect the political will to see more women assuming leadership positions in Jordan,” she told The Jordan Times.

Jordanian National Commission for Women Secretary General Salma Nims shared Khader’s concerns.

“We still have a long way to go despite the few achievements that were made, especially to the Citizenship Law,” Nims said.

In November, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour announced the government’s decision to grant children of Jordanian women married to foreigners certain privileges and facilities to ease their lives.

The privileges included free high school education and health services in public schools and institutions; second priority in the job market in all professions after Jordanian citizens; the right to own property and invest in Jordan; and obtain a driving licence.

Women’s groups and activists have been demanding for years that Jordanian women be allowed to pass on their citizenship to their children and spouses, a right that only men enjoy.

“These changes were long awaited although we expected more, but at least we feel that they work to protect the dignity of these families and offer them some form of stability and security,” Nims told The Jordan Times.

She added that much work is needed on laws that still discriminate against women, especially Article 308 of the Penal Code, under which a rapist is pardoned if he marries his victim and stays with her for five years.

Activists have been lobbying against the article, calling on the government to scrap it because it is unjust towards rape victims, and unacceptable from a religious and social perspective.

“Article 308 is one of many of our targets for this year and we have to work to abolish it from our legislation,” Nims stressed.

Both Khader and Nims called for revising the Personal Status Law, which still “has many loopholes that are not in favour of women”.

The women’s movement has complained for years about several provisions that they described as “disadvantageous and discriminatory in the Personal Status Law”, which was amended in 2010.

Some points include the lack of restrictions on polygamy; failure to address the issue of joint marital property; men’s sole guardianship of children; and women’s need to obtain written approval from their husbands if they want to leave the country with their children aged under 18.

Meanwhile, Jordanian Women’s Union Director General Nadia Shamroukh called for applying a civil law that governs the lives of Jordanian families.

“I believe that the Personal Status Law is a big obstacle in the path of women in Jordan and I strongly believe that we should apply a civil law that governs our lives,” Shamroukh told The Jordan Times.

In its current form, the law — prepared by the Chief Islamic Justice Department — draws from aspects of Sharia (Islamic law) covering familial and marital relations.

*Jordan Times