Tribe of harassed girl wants JD40,000 from alleged harasser

AMMAN — The family of a 16-year-old girl who was sexually harassed in the southern governorate of Aqaba has demanded JD40,000 and the confiscation of the harasser’s car in response to his act last week, tribal judge Majed Abufaraj Farajat said Saturday. 

The girl’s tribe, backed by several other tribes from the south, had wanted the harasser’s tongue to be cut off as punishment, but agreed instead to the fine and the vehicle confiscation, the judge said.

“[This occurred] when we received several complaints from a group of people about the harassment of a girl from a prominent tribe in Aqaba,” he said, adding that a motorist harassed the teenager when she left her house to head to a nearby destination.

The judge said the two belong to prominent tribes in Aqaba, some 330km south of the capital.

Despite the girl’s attempts to avoid and run away from the harasser, the 19-year-old reportedly kept following her in his car and asking her to get inside, Abufaraj Farajat told The Jordan Times over the phone. 

“He kept catcalling and saying inappropriate things to her in public, which led to clashes between the tribes,” he said.

The victim’s brother followed the harasser back home and used a Kalashnikov assault rifle against him, the judge continued. 

There were no reports of injuries.

“We wanted to end the issue and raise awareness about ending harassment in society," Abufaraj Farajat explained.

The tribes gathered in a meeting to come to terms regarding the issue, and members of the girl's tribe and their supporters called for cutting the harasser’s tongue off, impounding his car and seizing an amount of JD40,000.

“The punishment is just to … to say that the tongue he used to harass the girl verbally has to be cut off so he would learn not to do it again,” Abufaraj Farajat said. 

The judge said while the law might not authorise all the demands of the girl’s tribe, it would teach the accused a lesson.

“The girl shouldn’t stay silent about harassment. Some might be afraid they would lose their jobs or reputations, yet they must speak out,” he urged.

Punishment to the harasser must be implemented so anyone who reads the news or hears about it would be deterred, the judge said.

Abufaraj Farajat, who holds a degree in English literature and has worked in translation and wrote for several newspapers, noted that tribal leaders and judges in the south are “educated” and hold university degrees.

He emphasised that tribal leaders and judges “know how to react” to such acts and “work towards ending the phenomenon”, criticising some media outlets for depicting tribal figures as uneducated or ignorant. 

Harassment in the south is a varied phenomenon: in Aqaba it is widespread while in Wadi Musa it is less obvious and in Maan it is more likely to happen inside universities, the judge added.