Almost Half of Jordanian Women Entirely Ignorant of Their Rights

JAFFA, Israel – Almost half of Jordan’s women are entirely ignorant of their international rights, a new study has found.

The study, carried out by the Al Hayat research center and reported in the Jordanian newspaper Al Rai, has found that 40.6 percent of the 5,097 women surveyed were not aware of internationally recognized women’s rights.

Only nine percent said they were familiar with international conventions on women’s rights, and 3.2 percent could recite the budgetary provisions on the advancement of the status of women.

However, 28 percent understood that their inheritance rights have been denied, and 21.8 percent said that their rights are subordinate to their husbands’ decisions. 16.2 percent said their right to higher education has been infringed, and 13.7 percent said their right to equal opportunities in the workplace has been violated.

The paper also reported that 270 women will be candidates in next week’s parliamentary elections, including in the kingdom’s three Bedouin constituencies. The National Women’s Council announced that it organized a special training workshop for the candidates, and their goal is for 30 percent of all elected representatives to be women.

Meanwhile, the Arab media reported that the attention of the residents of Jordan’s capital, Amman, was recently drawn to a Saudi woman who stood in the central Jabal al-Hussein district and handed out 50 dinar (US$60) bills to passersby.

The woman said she gave away the money (3,000 dinar in total) in memory of her father, who was killed in a road accident nearby.