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According to U.N. estimates, Jordan has one of the highest per-capita "honor" killings rates in the world. At the same time, it has on multiple occasions in late 1999 and early 2000 attempted to overturn Article 340 of the Jordanian penal code, one of three articles that offer leniency to the perpetrators of "honor" killings, though one that has rarely, if ever, been used. King Abdullah and the appointed Upper House of Parliament favored repeal; however, the elected Lower House of Parliament did not.
I first learned about all this in the summer of 2000 by watching a broadcast report about these crimes by Sheila MacVicar of ABC News. In her report, MacVicar stood in front of the Jweideh Correctional Center in Jordan and explained that the women behind her, who as I recall were dangling out the prison windows trying to capture the attention of the viewers, were all warehoused in the prison because they were at risk for "honor" killings but there are no women's shelters in Jordan to safeguard them. So they lived in the prison, under protective custody, while the people who posed the risk to them walked free.
In the summer of 2003 I traveled to Jordan to speak with experts and learn more about this issue. When I asked why Articles 97, 98, and 340 have not been overturned, I was told variously there is a lack of political will, the people do not want it, the people are not ready for it, the timing is not right, or there are too many cultural/religious/social barriers.
I returned to the United States and continued to research the "honor" killings situation. I examined what other countries facing this problem have done to address it. According to U.N. estimates, Pakistan has the highest absolute number of "honor" killings per annum, believed to be between 800 and 1,000. It passed promising legislation criminalizing them, though, to date, enforcement has been disappointingly lax. And so, it seems, the laws lack teeth.
In 2005, the Turkish government, in an overhaul of its penal code aimed at complying with European Union norms, also strengthened the penalties for perpetrators of "honor" killings, making them punishable by as much as life in prison. However, there remains on the books a penal code article that permits reductions of sentences for crimes that are considered provoked, and this loophole is being utilized in some "honor" killings cases.
In addition, a hideous new phenomenon called "honor" suicide was borne. Rather than murder and risk a stiff sentence, in some cases, the perpetrators now force their victims to kill themselves. Just when one thinks it could not possibly get any uglier, this unintended consequence surfaces.
A second visit to Jordan in the fall of 2004 reinforced my initial impressions of Jordan as a relatively enlightened country in the region. Why could not it become the first nation in the world to combine the continuing efforts of the activists, the attorneys, and the journalists with the techniques of modern marketing to overturn the penal code articles and to change attitudes, opinions, beliefs, and, most crucially, behaviors about "honor" killings?
Progress and success in Jordan could serve as an inspiration and a model for other countries where these crimes are committed, such as Bangladesh, Brazil, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Israel, Italy, Libya, Morocco, The Netherlands, Pakistan, Palestine, Sweden, Turkey, Uganda and the United Kingdom. It could also demonstrate the value of using social marketing as a "best practice" for addressing and resolving other social problems within Jordan.
In October 2005 I returned to Jordan and traveled to 21 cities, towns, villages and refugee camps throughout the country conducting in-depth, face-to-face personal interviews with Jordanian citizens age 18 and older. People from all segments of society participated and were represented -- male and female, employed and unemployed, educated and uneducated, young and old, rich and poor, Muslim and Christian, East Bank Jordanian and West Bank Jordanian, nomadic and sedentary, urban and rural. To all, I continue to be deeply grateful for the cooperation, the honesty, and, in many cases, the almost heart-breaking hospitality and kindness.
I found that the people in the sample overwhelmingly support overturning Articles 97, 98, and 340 of the Jordanian penal code. It is not even a close call. It appears that the people are far ahead of the legislation and the leadership on this issue. The news is good -- most people do know right from wrong.
When asked if "honor" killings are morally just, 94.5 percent of the survey respondents said no. Even among the few respondents who replied affirmatively to this question, there was strong support for codifying into law the specific behaviors that a victim must engage in before a successful "honor" killings defense can be had (80 percent agreement) and for clearly placing the onus of proof on the defendant that one or more of these behaviors was engaged in (100 percent consensus).
When asked if the perpetrators of "honor" killings deserve to be treated with leniency, 95.5 percent said no. When asked if the victims of "honor" killings deserve what they get, 86 percent said no. When asked whether there is any honor in "honor" killings, 89.5 percent said no.
There is corroborating regional data to support my statistics. In an online referendum on "honor" killings conducted by Dubai-based Al Arabiya News Channel (www.alarabiya.net), 63.0 percent of the respondents stated that they believe these crimes are not justified, that they are unsupportable by any religion or law; 24.7 percent were neutral and 12.3 percent indicated that they are sometimes warranted to eradicate bad influences and people from society.
In the face of this much support, it does not seem prudent to invest large sums in developing and implementing a social marketing campaign in Jordan for this issue. Nonetheless, there remains a continued need for efforts to educate people in general and women in particular about their rights and the limits of them. In my research, compared to their male counterparts, the female respondents were both less likely to know that "honor" killings in Jordan are not punished as ordinary murders and less likely to be aware of "honor" killings that have occurred within their extended families. And these differences between the genders were highly statistically significant.
Similarly, there is an important role for both parents and religious leaders to play. Of the survey respondents, 21.5 percent believe that Islam requires that sexually promiscuous behaviors be cleansed through "honor" killings, while another 2 percent are unsure. The experts and the imams I have consulted tell me this is absolutely not the case.
In the sample, parents and religion/religious leaders (in that order) were named by the respondents as exerting the strongest influence on their attitudes, opinions, and beliefs about "honor" killings. And so it is crucial that they discuss "honor" killings, ensure that any miseducation and misinformation be corrected, and offer better means of addressing this issue.
When asked about their personal familiarity with "honor" killings, 33 percent of the respondents reported that they personally know someone who has been threatened with an "honor" killing. Indeed, one of the respondents herself had been threatened.
Those who personally knew a victim amounted to 27.5 percent, while 27 percent stated that they personally know a perpetrator. Four percent confessed that an "honor" killing has occurred in their extended family, while 1 percent claimed that one has occurred in their nuclear family. Quite a few of the survey respondents know of multiple cases. These figures lead a reasonable person to believe that the number of "honor" killings in Jordan is vastly underestimated.
So what is the bottom line? The conventional wisdom is wrong. Generalizing from the survey sample to the wider population, there is not much justification or support for continuing to offer legal leniency to the perpetrators of "honor" killings.
"Honor" killings are against the tenets of Islam, in opposition to at least 17 international human rights conventions to which Jordan is a signatory, and inconsistent with the Jordanian Constitution. I ask the king to please correct this problem and ensure that there is justice for all the Jordanian Du'a Khalil Aswads, as well as a bright future and a network of safehouses and shelters for the people who are at risk.
Jordan is a beautiful country with many traditions of which it can rightly be very proud. Its subjects deserve to be heard and to live outside the umbrella of fear created by the daily possibility of sudden, violent death. Jordan could show the rest of the world that it can be done --because truly it can -- and show them how to do it.
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(Ellen R. Sheeley is the author of "Reclaiming Honor in Jordan: A National Public Opinion Survey on 'Honor' Killings." She is also CEO of a management and marketing consulting firm specializing in international financial services and technology. She possesses an M.B.A. degree, a B.A. degree in psychology, and 30 years' professional experience. Ellen has served on the boards of nonprofit and technology corporations and on the faculties of four universities. She has lived and/or worked in the United States, the CIS, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Oceania. ©Copyright Ellen R. Sheeley.)
