‘The martyr of dawn’: Femicide in Jordanian media

This study aims to address the gap in Arab media scholarship on the representation of gender-based violence. Despite the prevalence and normalisation of gender-based violence in Jordan, no scholarly engagements exist that unpack the role of the media in fostering this social acceptance.
This paper aims to critically analyse the media’s role by adopting a comparative approach to two types of femicide which have made headlines in the country: the first, a single mega murder which occurred in December 2013, and the second, a number of so-called honour crimes which occurred in 2008–2014. It argues that while both are manifestations of sexual violence, Jordanian media approach these femicides in wildly different ways and rank their victims differently.
Drawing on criminological engagements with victimology, homicide and the media, the paper reveals the implicit assumptions and practices of Jordanian news media. This analysis is located within its Jordanian context, where violence against women, and even so-called honour crimes, are normalised.