Jordan Working on Honor Crimes

Jordan has recently made some great strides to protect women in a patriarchal society. A fatwa was issued earlier this month to ban pre-marital virginity exams because they are humiliating to women and are used as an intimidation tool against women. If a woman does not pass, she can even be killed in the name of honor, which happens to about 20 women a year in Jordan. The country has even made a new tribunal to address the perpetrators of honor crimes, who too often slip through the system with little or no punishment.

It's too bad virginity checks can't be performed on men, but even if they could it wouldn't make a difference. In the same countries where women's lives depend on their virginity and honor, men have premarital sex and make arrangements such as temporary marriages (which I see as a form of prostitution, sex slavery, or rape) so that they can fulfill their "needs". Getting rid of premarital exams is crucial because it not only shows trust in women, it gives them back their dignity and allows them to have a normal life without fearing murder, even if they had been raped.

Paternal Mortality

I love Nicholas Kristof's column in the New York Times. He's not afraid to just say it like it is. His Thursday column was about maternal mortality. He followed the story of a young Pakistani woman delivering her first child. Her baby ended up dying because her in-laws would not pay to transport her to the hospital. The woman's husband said, "It is God's will...There is nothing we can do."

Kristof's answer?

"That’s incorrect. If men had uteruses, “paternity wards” would get resources, ambulances would transport pregnant men to hospitals free of charge, deliveries would be free, and the Group of 8 industrialized nations would make paternal mortality a top priority. One of the most lethal forms of sex discrimination is this systematic inattention to reproductive health care, from family planning to childbirth — so long as those who die are impoverished, voiceless women."