Preventive measures urged as number of murdered women rises

AMMAN — The number of women killed since the beginning of 2019 has risen to 12, the Sisterhood is Global Institute (SIGI)-Jordan reported on Sunday. 

Over the past two days, three women were found murdered in Amman, SIGI reported, with the body of the first woman, in her fifties, found in Jabal Luweibdeh on Sunday.

An elderly woman in her eighties was found stabbed in her Jabal Amman home on Saturday night, while a third woman was shot dead by her ex-husband, who initially claimed she had committed suicide. 

On June 11, a man killed his ex-wife and her mother, and injured her father, after stabbing the victims in their Irbid home and on June 10, a man murdered his sister after dousing her in petrol before attributing her death to suicide. The man later confessed to the crime, citing a familial dispute as motive. 

All of the aforementioned crimes remain under investigation and therefore cannot be dubbed as “honour killings” thus far, according to SIGI. 

In April, a man in Zarqa stabbed his wife in light of familial differences, SIGI said, adding that the woman succumbed to her injuries the next day.

Four murders were committed in March, the first of which took the lives of a woman and her husband, while a young woman in her twenties and two girls, 16 and 13 respectively, were murdered in separate incidents during the month.

In February, a man strangled his wife to death in Quweismeh, according to the statement. 

In the statement, the institute stressed the importance of taking preventative measures to eradicate crime against women, noting that imposing harsher penalties will not suffice. 

SIGI urged the creation of free-of-charge guidance and support programmes that address aspects of health, legal and social natures, focusing on psychological well-being. 

The institute explained that mental health and well-being have not received enough attention, adding that they can be indicators of an individual’s susceptibility to violence.

Citing difficult economic conditions, SIGI stressed the need for these programmes to also tackle financial and professional counselling on ways to balance between work and family.

The institute also called for legislative amendments that offer lenient punishments to perpetrators of violent crimes against women, namely Article 340 of the Penal Code, which allows perpetrators to benefit from mitigating conditions if they surprise their spouse, or other female relatives, in the act of adultery.