About Us | Jordanian Women's Union

The Jordanian Women’s Union Association, a national feminist institution that believes in full equality between all citizens and between males and females, and calls for the abolition of all forms of discrimination against women in all social, political and economic contexts. It also believes in the right of full citizenship for both men and women and the integration of non-stereotyped roles in order to create an existing civil society on equal rights and civil values.

Foundation:

The Jordanian Women's Union Society is the oldest feminist organization established in Jordan. It was founded in 1945 in Jordan by a group of Jordanian women activists in women's rights and carried more than one name (the Jordanian Women's Union and the Arab Women's Union). The union experienced all the changes that went through in Jordan's history, as the union was dissolved in 1957 after the emergency law was declared, along with all political parties and civil society organizations. The union was re-established in 1974 under the name of the Women’s Union in Jordan, and it continued to operate until 1981, when it was dissolved again, and then the union returned to work after the abolition of martial laws in 1990 and the restoration of democratic life and elections for the country, and the name was modified in 1994 to become the Jordanian Women’s Union.

Among the goals of the association:

Enhancing the status and role of Jordanian women in society and enabling them to fully exercise their rights based on the principles of equality, justice, equal opportunities, participation and respect for human rights and rights.
Activating the role of women and enabling them to perform their duties in all national issues and in national building, consolidating the democratic approach and protecting sovereignty and national culture.
Overcoming legislative, economic, social, cultural and political obstacles and promoting human rights in general and the rights of women and children in particular.
support for Palestinian and Arab women and solidarity with the just causes of women in the world.
Eliminate all forms of discrimination against women.

methodology

The association works in parallel on three tracks to achieve these goals:

General Context: The association believes that women’s work is inseparable from community work and does not look at women’s issues in isolation from their social, economic and political contexts through participation and interaction with public affairs as an active part of Jordanian civil society and a belief in full and undiminished citizenship. Accordingly, the association addresses the creation of a civil environment in which all citizens are equal before the law, regardless of their opinions, religions, races, and genders.

Amending the legal context that discriminates against women: The association works to organize pressure campaigns to amend laws that discriminate against women in existing laws, and draft amendments to these laws by the relevant legal committees and local coalitions of civil society organizations. The aim of these campaigns is to eliminate forms of discrimination against women in law and to achieve legal equality for women to bring domestic laws into line with international conventions. It works in parallel and on an ongoing basis to implement several community awareness sessions in the association’s branches and centers on women’s rights, legal literacy, and social issues aimed at creating societal awareness away from stereotypical images of women’s roles, in addition to creating pressured popular support for amending laws.

Protection: The association works to provide protection services to abused women and women exposed to violence through the development of a set of programs that established specialized protection services. These programs came in response to women's needs and to fill the gap in this type of services, especially in areas outside the capital.

Awareness: The association believes that awareness of the problem is the basis for finding appropriate solutions to it. Therefore, the association works to interact with all segments of society in order to create awareness of the obstacles that limit the development of society, in order to combine efforts to develop appropriate solutions to avoid them.

1945-2022

About us:

The Jordanian Women’s Union is a national feminist organization that believes in full equality between all citizens and between males and females. It calls for eliminating all forms of discrimination against women in all social, political, and economic contexts. It also believes in the right of full citizenship for both men and women and the integration of roles, not stereotyping them, in order to create an existing civil society on equal rights and civil values.

The establishment:

The Jordanian Women's Union is the oldest feminist organization established in Jordan. It was established in 1945 in Jordan by a group of Jordanian women activists in the field of women's rights. It carried more than one name, such as the Federation of Jordanian Women and the Arab Women's Union. The Union experienced all changes that Jordan's history went through, as the Union was dissolved in 1957 after the emergency law was declared, along with all political parties and civil society organizations. The Union was re-established in 1974 under the name of the “Women’s Union in Jordan”, and it continued working until 1981 when it was dissolved again. The Union then returned to work after the abolition of martial laws in 1990 and after the democratic life and elections were restored in the country. Its name was then modified in 1994 to become the Jordanian Women’s Union.

Some of the Union’s objectives:

Advancing the status of Jordanian women and their roles in society, and enabling them to fully exercise their rights based on the principles of equality, justice, equal opportunities, participation, and respecting humans and their rights.
Activating the role of women and enabling them to perform their duties in all national issues and in national construction, consolidating the democratic approach, and protecting sovereignty and national culture.
Overcoming legislative, economic, social, cultural, and political obstacles, as well as promoting human rights, in general, and the rights of women and children, in particular.
Supporting and assisting Palestinian and Arab women, and practicing solidarity with women’s just causes in the world.
Eliminating all forms of discrimination against women.

The Union’s Methodology:

The Union works in parallel on three tracks to achieve these goals:

General Context: The Union believes that women’s work is inseparable from community work. It also does not look at women’s issues in isolation from their social, economic, and political contexts through participation and interaction with public affairs as an active part of Jordanian civil society, and from the belief in full and undiminished citizenship. Accordingly, the Union addresses the creation of a civil environment in which all citizens are equal before the law, regardless of their opinions, religions, races, and genders.

Modifying the legal context that discriminates against women: The Union works to organize pressure campaigns to amend laws that discriminate against women in the existing laws, and it drafts amendments to these laws by the relevant legal committees and local alliances of civil society organizations. The aim of these campaigns is to eliminate the forms of discrimination practiced against women in law and achieving legal equality for women to bring domestic laws in line with international conventions. It continuously works in parallel to implement several community awareness sessions in the Union’s branches and centers related to women’s rights, legal literacy, and social issues aimed at creating societal awareness away from the stereotypes of women’s roles, in addition to creating pressuring popular support for laws to be amended.

Protection: The Union works to provide protection services to abused women and women exposed to violence through developing a set of programs that were established for specialized protection services. These programs came in response to women's needs and to fill the gap in this type of services, especially in the areas outside Amman, the capital.

Raising awareness: The Union believes that understanding the problem is the basis to find the appropriate solutions to it. Accordingly, the Union works to interact with all groups in the society in order to create awareness of the obstacles that limit the development of society, and to combine efforts to develop appropriate solutions to avoid them.

1945-2022

About us:

A leading Arab feminist organization, established by an initiative of leading women, since the forties of the last century. It was established to be a feminist cultural organization concerned with women's issues.

Emily Bisharat was the pioneer and the source of inspiration in a long road filled with social inequality and patriarchy, from one closure to another, and then changing the organization's name. The road is one, a generation is handing over to another, the march is progressing, the vision is growing up, and the objectives are achieved to be transformed.