MEPI Alumna Eva Abu Halawaeh is named a 2011 International Women of Courage Awardee

In Jordan, Eva Abu Halawaeh has a reputation as one of the fiercest defenders of human rights, and has dedicated her career to advocate for the vulnerable people of Jordan, including women at risk of becoming victims of so-called honor crimes. Thus it came as no surprise that on March 8th 2011, at an event commemorating the 100th anniversary of the International Women’s Day, Abu Halawaeh was named an International Woman of Courage and presented the International Women of Courage Award by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and First Lady Michelle Obama.  

As Abu Halawaeh proudly yet humbly accepted her award, she spoke of her passion for advocating for greater rights and protection of victims: “I was raised in a very democratic household and my family raised me as a strong independent woman; however, I recognized from an early age that I live in a society where injustice is very common, especially against women.  This continues to drive my passion every day.  This award validates the work that we do every day, and will help highlight the problems that we are currently working on resolving.” 

Through Mizan, a not-for-profit law firm she co-founded, Abu Halaweh spearheaded various initiatives that created major positive social impacts, including a leading role in passing a new law in 2008 aimed at protecting victims of domestic violence and creating a set of alternative penalties to encourage victims to report crimes committed against them.  “One of our biggest challenges when combating domestic violence was the victims’ unwillingness to report a crime that is often committed by a husband, a parent, or a sibling.  Through the new law we were able to introduce alternative penalties and protections for victims.  We worked with leading activists like Asma Khader and we were successful in passing the new law.” Mizan is currently working on several key issues including passing two laws to combat torture and abolish discrimination.  The firm is also leading an initiative to allow women to be Sharia’a (Islamic law) judges in Jordan since she deeply believes that “there are no contradictions between Islam and women’s rights.” 

Abu Halaweh is MEPI alumna through her participation in the MEPI-supported Arab Women Legal Network - a non-profit and non-governmental regional entity that aims to facilitate the advancement of Arab women working in the legal profession.  Mizan was also was one of the key NGOs that supported the launch of two domestic violence centers in Jordan as part of MEPI’s Public-Private Partnerships for Women’s Advancement program.  

Abu Halaweh was clear on her position on the status of women in the region: “Women’s time is coming in the Middle East.  In Jordan, the number of women in the University of Jordan exceeds the number of men, and the majority of law students in the country are also women. The revolutions we saw in Egypt and Tunisia were led by women and men standing side by side; however, I will not hide my disappointment that the constitutional review panel that was created did not have a single woman present despite the fact that Egypt has a number of renowned women lawyers.”