“There Is No Honor in Taking a Life”: Violence against Women in the Name of Honor

Abstract

In the quiet corners of Jordanian homes, a silent epidemic unfolds as the specter of honor crimes casts a dark shadow over the lives of women and girls. Where familial ties are assumed to provide a safe haven, the insidious practice of honor killings has carved a devastating path of life for women. Honor killings disproportionately affect women and transform the sanctity of the "family home" into an unexpected theater of peril. At the heart of this tragic narrative are Articles 98, 99, and 340 of the Jordanian Penal Code that apply to all Jordanian women. I argue that while these legal provisions ostensibly may have been designed to provide justice for females targeted by honor killings by criminalizing this specific type of murder, these Articles paradoxically contribute to the perpetuation of femicide within the nation by, for example, providing legal justifications for reduced penalties or no penalty at all for this specific type of murder of females. The effect is a legal system that permits a culture of impunity for those who commit these heinous acts. Despite apparent advances in Jordan’s investment in women's rights, the legal provisions in Articles 98, 99, and 340 of its Penal Code paradoxically undermine the criminality of honor killings against women and girls, thereby severely undermining the human security of Jordanian women. I examine specific judicial rulings on honor killings from a certain period as will be explained in Chapter 4 to support my exposure of the disconcerting gap between Jordan's aspirations for gender equality and the harsh realities faced by women within its legal framework and how this gap contributes to rates of femicide within the nation.