Jordanian authorities must stop colluding with an abusive male guardianship system to control womens lives and limit their personal freedoms, Amnesty International said in a new report published today.

Imprisoned women, stolen children: policing sex, marriage and pregnancy in Jordan documents how women accused of leaving home without permission or having sex outside marriage risk detention and humiliating virginity tests if male family members complain to the authorities. Women pregnant outside marriage also face forcible separation from their newborn children.

The time has now come to end the detention and ill-treatment of women simply for disobeying their male guardian or transgressing gender norms

The Jordanian government should urgently address these shameful violations that national womens organizations have been battling for decades, starting with the zealous use of detention powers by provincial governors, and the discriminatory male guardianship system that allows adult women to be arrested for leaving home without permission, said Heba Morayef, Amnesty Internationals Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

Over the past several years, the government has adopted several important reform measures to address gender-based violence, including through the opening of the Dar Amneh shelter for women at risk, but the time has now come to end the detention and ill-treatment of women simply for disobeying their male guardian or transgressing gender norms.

Amnesty International interviewed a total of 121 people in Jordan between June 2018 and October 2019 for the report. The organization also met with 10 governmental officials in February 2019 and shared key research findings with the Prime Minister. The Jordanian governments response, received on 14 October 2019, is provided as an annex to the report.

Provincial governors in Jordan misuse a draconian piece of legislation, the Crime Prevention Law, to administratively detain scores of women at any one time. The Prime Ministers offices response to Amnesty International stated that there are 149 women in administrative detention, and that 1,259 women had been released from administrative detention over the first six months of 2019. They are detained for a number of reasons including being absent from home without their male guardians permission and sex outside marriage (zina).

The Jordanian government should urgently address these shameful violations that national womens organizations have been battling for decades, starting with the zealous use of detention powers by provincial governors, and the discriminatory male guardianship system that allows adult women to be arrested for leaving home without permission

The Prime Ministers office told Amnesty International that 85 women have so far been administratively detained in 2019 for zina, but denied that women were ever imprisoned for absence, unless they were also suspected of an additional offence.

However, Amnesty Internationals documentation and the work of Jordanian lawyers shows that governors order the detention women for absence, often based solely on the request of the guardian.

In February 2019, Amnesty International visited Juweideh prison, the main womens prison in Jordan, and met 22 women jailed without charge or trial who said they were arrested for absence or accused of zina. Most said they had been imprisoned for months and were waiting for a male family member to bail them out. As recently as September 2019, informed sources confirmed to Amnesty International that at least 30 women remained detained in Juweideh for absence and zina.

Almost all described fleeing abusive environments, or said they ran away after their guardian blocked their choice of marriage partner. According to Jordanian law, women under the age of 30 require the consent of their male guardian (normally their father, brother or uncle) to get married.

*Sawsan told Amnesty International she had been jailed for over a year after her father complained to the authorities that she had run away with a man. In fact, she had run away to escape his abuse.

I was stopped on the street in Amman and the police asked me for my ID. I didnt have it, so they said I had to come to their station, but when I got there they found a warrantfor my arrest because I was absent.Thetwopolice officers there beatme I was taken to thegovernors deputy in [location withheld].He said I would go toJuweidehprisonuntil my father bails me out, she said.

Four women that Amnesty International met in, or after their release from, administrative detention said hospital staff called the police because they were pregnant outside of marriage.

*Ola, in her twenties, explained:

I got pregnant and tried to marry the man. But the marriage wasnt approved because I have no guardian. My parents are dead, and I just have younger sisters, no brothers I went to hospital and gave birth. The hospital asked if I was married and I said no, so then they called the police. Thats how I ended up here.

Two unmarried pregnant women separately said they were being held in administrative detention until they gave birth so the authorities could collect DNA evidence from their baby. This was because the alleged father wanted to exonerate himself from zina accusations.

Ministry of Interior officials told Amnesty International in meetings in February 2019 that governors detain women for absence and zina for their own protection, as their family members may want to kill them. They added that the newly established Dar Amneh shelter would end protective custody.

Civil society organizations have widely credited Dar Amneh for reducing the numbers of women at risk in administrative detention. As of mid-September 2019, the facility had hosted 75 women. However, as noted above, Dar Amneh has not ended the practice of women being detained for absence and zina, many of whom appear to be detained to punish and coerce them to return to their male guardian.

Women are also at risk of being prosecuted for the crime of zina, which carries a prison sentence of 1-3 years. While both men and women may be prosecuted if their spouse complains to the authorities, a woman can also be prosecuted following a complaint by her male guardian. This gives male family members another tool to punish and control women.

*Rana, in her mid-twenties, told Amnesty International that she was arrested and prosecuted for zina after she ran away with a man she loved but wasnt permitted to marry, and her father pursued a case against her.

Unmarried women detained for absence told Amnesty international that they were taken by police to do a virginity test. This is an invasive examination performed under the unscientific belief that it can determine if the woman has had vaginal intercourse and violates the prohibition on torture and other ill-treatment under international law.

*Hanan, aged around 20, told Amnesty International she had fled her abusive home on three occasions with her sister and explained:

Every time we ran away, when we were arrested the police would take us to the hospital and my father would insist that they do the virginity tests on [us]. We agreed to it each time, as we knew we had to show our father that we were virgins. Family Protection [police] made it very clear anyway, if our father asks us to do the test, we have to do it. It is his right.

The use of virginity tests by the police in Jordan reinforces a discriminatory idea that male family members have a right to monitor and control womens sexuality. Such unlawful practices must end in all circumstances

Some women described being ordered to submit to the tests by Family Protection or family members. Even in the absence of obvious forms of coercion, women who are in detention cannot give free consent.

The use of virginity tests by the police in Jordan reinforces a discriminatory idea that male family members have a right to monitor and control womens sexuality. Such unlawful practices must end in all circumstances, said Heba Morayef

Women who are pregnant outside marriage face the added risk that their child will be forcibly taken into state care. While the Prime Ministers office told Amnesty International that a child is only removed where he or she is assessed to be at-risk, womens rights activists and lawyers told Amnesty International the opposite: that Family Protection take the children of unmarried women to Ministry of Social Development care homes as a matter of institutional practice, in the absence of individualized assessment.

Five women who gave birth while unmarried told Amnesty International that their newborn children had been taken away by police without their consent. A Ministry of Social Development-run kindergarten in Juweideh prison allowing women to keep young children with them excludes illegal babies.

At best, unmarried women can seek to be reunited with their children as a foster parent.

Two migrant domestic workers told researchers they gave birth at home to prevent their child being taken away from them. An NGO told Amnesty International they knew of 20 such cases. Unmarried women struggle to register their childrens birth and gain legal identity for them.

Forcible removal of children from unmarried mothers amounts to torture and must immediately stop

A woman who married an abusive partner, who had raped her, in order to register her children said she did so on the advice of an NGO, given her lack of other options.

*Amy told Amnesty International: I didnt want to marry [my husband] but I was advised to do so. I am worried one day he will beat me to death. But I have no choice, I must stay with him. The lawyer said I had to marry him so I can register the [children].

Heba Morayef said: Sadly, we have documented several cases of unmarried women who became pregnant as a result of rape, who were then imprisoned, forcibly separated from their child or denied birth registration.

Forcible removal of children from unmarried mothers amounts to torture and must immediately stop. Instead of actively contributing to the stigma attached to children born outside of marriage, the authorities must work to eliminate it and help unmarried women who want to bring up their children.

Amnesty International is calling on the Jordanian authorities to double-down on their efforts to protect womens rights, in collaboration with civil society organizations.

The opening of Dar Amneh is a positive step that appears to have resulted in less women being detained in so-called protective custody and shows political will to protect womens rights

The opening of Dar Amneh is a positive step that appears to have resulted in less women being detained in so-called protective custody and shows political will to protect womens rights. What is needed now is a comprehensive review of laws and policies to ensure women are trusted to make free decisions about their sexual and reproductive lives; rather than being criminalized, punished and marginalized, said Heba Morayef

* Real name withheld to protect her identity

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Jordan: End arbitrary detention of women who disobey male guardians or have unsanctioned relationships - Amnesty International