Virtual event addresses women’s rights ‘regression’ in 2020

AMMAN — Women’s rights activists said that the year 2020 witnessed “a regression” of their rights on all fronts.

However, activists pointed out that women’s rights groups played a vital role during the pandemic by providing the proper legal, psychological and social support to women and children in need during the lockdown necessitated by the COVID-19 crisis.

The findings were presented during a virtual event that was organised by Solidarity Is Global Institute (SIGI), titled “The Year 2020: A difficult year – What did women accomplish?”

SIGI Executive President Asma Khader said the event was meant to look back at the experiences, successes and failures, examine the past year and “inspect our mistakes and progresses”.

“All indicators and statistics related to women show a regression based on studies and reports such as during the parliamentary elections,” Khader said.

Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW) Secretary General Salma Nims said that women’s rights groups played a major role in supporting women during the pandemic, since many women lost their jobs, while others had to endure extra work and responsibilities at home because of distance learning.

The closure and reopening of schools, nurseries and kindergartens created “chaos and instability for business owners, parents and children. It had its toll on everyone,” Nims said.

“Women were also subjected to more cases of violence by their family members, especially during the lockdown,” Nims noted.

Also speaking during the event, former MP Wafa Bani Mustafa pointed to the decrease in the number of women in the Lower House.

“No woman managed to win seats outside the women’s quota, and this is a bad sign,” Bani Mustafa said.

During the 2016 elections, five females won seats through direct competition, in addition to the 15 seats that were allocated to them via the women’s quota.

Women’s representation in the government also dropped.

“We had seven women ministers out of 28 and now there are only three out of 32. This is a major drop in women's presence in important governmental establishments,” Bani Mustafa said.

“Nevertheless, we had a woman appointed to the Constitutional Court and this is a good sign,” she added.

Women activists stressed the need to unify efforts and continue the fight to achieve more gains and win the support of legislators to amend discriminatory laws.

Women’s issues also need to continue to be a priority for the government regardless of the political and social situation, the women activists stressed during the online event.

Women activists said there is a need to amend the Election Law to take into consideration the population density versus the allocated seats, especially in the large districts, to allow more women to reach the Lower House of Parliament.