Jordanian Honor Horror

I was reading a report by Human Rights Watch on so-called honor crimes in Jordan, and I got filled with resentment and fury. Read this:

Under article 340, any man who kills or attacks his wife or any of his female relatives in the act of committing adultery or in an “unlawful bed” benefits from a reduction in penalty.

…

The section of the penal code most frequently invoked on behalf of perpetrators of “honor” killings is article 98. This statute mandates reduction of penalty for a perpetrator (of either gender) who commits a crime in a “state of great fury [or “fit of fury”] resulting from an unlawful and dangerous act on the part of the victim.” It does not require in flagrante discovery or any other standard of evidence of female indiscretion. If the extenuating excuse is established for a crime punishable by death,such as premeditated murder, article 98 provides that the penalty be reduced to a minimum of one year in prison.

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In murders for “honor,” given the family’s complicity in the crime, the family nearly always “waives” the right to file a complaint. Thus, “honor” killers may receive sentences of six months—and often do. If a killer has served that much time awaiting trial, the sentence may be commuted to time served and he may walk away a free man.

In my opinion, honour crimes are not prevalent in Jordan. The simple reason why they are not an “epidemic” is because women have learned their lesson. In the areas where honour crimes are a potential danger to their lives, they have learned to keep mum about their relationships with men. Note that by relationships I mean anything from talking to a man to kissing him.

In part, honour crimes have themselves acted as a restraint to the spread of the practice — because women are afraid they will be killed. Of course, this means a great degree of social hypocrisy and a great deal of limiting these women’s freedoms and putting them under tremendous pressure and making them live in constant fear. It also means ensuring the continuation of this practice, ensuring it has popular support in the areas where it is acceptable, and perpetuating the cycle of gender inequality in Jordan.