Jordan’s Senate revoked a bill that permits lenient punishment for those who kill their female relatives thought to have shamed their families.
Senator Leila Sharaf during Monday’s sessions argued against keeping the current code that ensures leniency for men who murder family members. “Do we want every man in this country to take the law into his hands and not be punished for it?” Sharaf asked.
Dozens of Jordanian women are killed every year in what are described as ‘honor’ crimes. Under the current law, men convicted of killing female relatives in the name of “honor” serve prison sentences of three months to one year. Removing the article would make ‘honor’ killings punishable by up to life in prison.
Rana Husseni, a leading Jordanian journalist who has reported extensively on honor killings, will be one of the symposium speakers on gender-based violence at the Feminist Majority Foundation’s Feminist Expo 2000 for Women’s Empowerment, March 31 – April 2, 2000 in Baltimore, MD.
