To get divorced in Jordan, for women is extremely difficult. There are new laws in place stating that a woman may divorce, but unless the husband agrees, it is not possible. A woman is treated as a second class citizen and has very few rights.
A petition is sent to the court for divorce and it is highly advisable to hire an attorney to represent you. An attorney is fairly cheap in divorce matters. The usual fee is 100-200jds or $135 dollars and up. The attorney's office takes care of all the paperwork and speaks to the judge in your behalf. But before divorce is granted the judge requires to see the husband.
If the husband refuses to cooperate, then the divorce can be delayed indefinitely. Once the husband shows up in court, he can claim the wife is not fit and a good wife and she will end up with nothing. In many cases the wife will pay the husband to get divorced, not the other way around. She must give up everything in the marriage except for her dowry (wedding gift).
In many cases unless there are children involved, the wife does not get maintenance or support. It is a long lengthy battle and most of the time, the wife must go to court to get her spousal support. In some cases the husband is good and pays as required by the court. The amount of spousal or child support she receives is very minimal, based on the salary and expenses of the husband.
In many cases the wife gets fifty JD per child or less. This amount is not sufficient enough for a home, food and clothing and many women will forgo all spousal and child support to be free. Jordan does have many welfare agencies involved to help displaced divorced women. A divorced woman in the society is bad. A woman who is divorced is thought of in very bad terms. The wife is always blamed for the demise of the marriage.
The husband on the other hand, if he desires divorce, the process is very simple. He can just state verbally, "I divorce you" and they are divorced. The man can go to the court and say he request a divorce or "talaq" and the judge will grant him an automatic divorce.
Although Jordan does not treat women as inferior creatures in anyway, the divorce system is set up exactly that way. Women have very few rights in Jordan and when it comes to regular physical abuse, many will stay in the marriage as the alternatives are very few. Jordan does have abuse centers available for women of spousal support.
