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Law and the protection of women from violence in Jordan

There is a legal separation in Jordan between Sharia' (Islamic) Law and Civil Law. Both types of law come together to create criminal law that has a negative effect on women's rights. Laws in Jordan are evolving in the right direction but are not going far enough to protect women from violence. This study explores the issues of violence against women in Jordan through a study the Jordanian legal system and the experience of women who suffer violence. The working of the Jordanian justice system is presented by analysing the responses of state and non-state institutions dealing with violence against women. Included in the research is an analysis of feminist concerns with the law and the position of women in society. My concern is with the way in which women's inferior position impacts on their experience of violence and their ability to obtain redress and access protection. The methods used to complete this study included qualitative data collections such as field observations, and semi-structured participant interviews. It also extended to archival work in which I studied official reports and public policies on VAW. My study attempts to explain the structure of gender relations and women's experiences of violence in the context of Jordanian society by using feminist theory. The empirical work conducted in Jordan considered the effectiveness of law in serving victims. Further analysis considers how the Jordanian socio-economic and legal environment influences women's decisions on whether to seek help. The research found that there is a need to introduce better-developed law accompanied by additional policy measures to affect an essential change in attitudes. This requires changing some laws and policy programmes to increase awareness of legal rights. Additionally, I will suggest that applying Islamic law to women's rights can also give women more freedom and provide them with additional opportunities to access protection. The research identified a need for coherence between Civil and Sharia' (Islamic) Law in developing civil and criminal remedies which would align Jordan's domestic law to its international obligations.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:759564
Date January 2018
CreatorsKhashman, Zainab Nimer Rajab
PublisherUniversity of Sussex
Source SetsEthos UK
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Sourcehttp://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/78764/

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