Toolkit addressing gender-based violence launched in Jordan

AMMAN — The Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) - Legal Aid on Monday launched a toolkit to address gender-based violence (GBV) in Jordan, aimed at initiating a social dialogue that can foster positive changes in attitudes towards women and girls.

Lana Zananiri, gender unit manager at the ARDD, told The Jordan Times that “our main aim is to achieve access to justice regardless of status, and an important component is an environment that supports women and girls and supports eliminating violence in all of its forms”.

While she expressed hopes for the toolkit to be “a useful guide for all practitioners and decision makers in moving forward with this supportive environment”, she stressed that “the toolkit is not the end of our work. The ARDD is building on the foundation the toolkit provides by continuing to engage key actors and stakeholders to reach our shared goals”.

The guide, which comes as part of the UN-funded “Know Her Rights” project for gender equality, contains measures that will “contribute to the promotion of legislative and policy changes towards the elimination of GBV and to the promotion of gender mainstreaming in several sectors”, a ARDD official told The Jordan Times.

“Although the toolkit targeted stakeholders in the government, media, education and health sectors for them to take action and promote increased gender sensitivity in the provision of information and services in their sectors, it has been purposely written avoiding the use of any technical terminologies to enhance wide dissemination of its content and messages among different audiences,” the official noted.

“The ARDD hopes that this toolkit will serve as a mechanism that educates and sensitises targeted stakeholders on the multiple forms and impact of violence against women and girls, as well as supporting the participatory approach based on human rights and advocacy,” the source added, noting that the toolkit will also be used for the production of training materials for future projects of the ARDD and other civil society organisations (CSOs).

The content of the guide is the result of a project that incorporated consultations with stakeholders representing the different sectors of society, including international NGOs, CSOs, and representatives from the government, media, and education sectors.

“After the ARDD’s research and legal teams drafted the toolkit, a significant number of gender specialists and experts provided their recommendations and feedback to facilitate the understanding and implementation of the toolkit,” sources from the ARDD said, noting that “together, these actors have a significant public outreach and have the ability to influence societal norms and overall public policy”.

The first section of the guide addresses the legal gaps affecting the issue of gender, and the “state of silence” regarding topics such as domestic violence, honour and partial rights.

The rest of the guide is focused on recommendations on how to address violence against females in the targeted sectors, with evidence based information on how actors in these sectors can play a role in eliminating GBV.

The guide also includes key messages, boxes outlining commendable campaigns and initiatives, policy highlights, and checklists and activities to promote gender sensitivity.

The toolkit will be available on the ARDD’s website as well as its partners’ websites, and hard copies will be distributed among stakeholders such as representatives of local NGOs, government, media, education and health officials.