Jordan Speaks Up is a social media campaign for people to share their stories of sexual harassment to encourage others to speak up.

The campaign started after the release of a short documentary called “Jordan Speaks Up”, which highlights the issue of sexual harassment in the Jordanian community. The documentary raises awareness about the severity of sexual harassment in Jordan and sends the message that it's never wrong to speak up.

By sharing real stories from real people, this social media campaign aims to break the silence around sexual harassment in Jordan, empowering people to speak about it openly in an environment where it hasn't always been easy to do so.

I was 14 walking to the supermarket down our house and an asshole touched me inappropriately and ran away. I still have a phobia walking alone in Amman to this day. #JordanSpeaksUp — Zeina Shahzada (@Nashmiyya) October 16, 2019

The only thing i got from #JordanSpeaksUp is that women of all ages should be allowed to carry weapons at all times — Astra Tarawneh (@Astra_Amulius) October 12, 2019

TRIGGER WARNING

posting this in light of the taxi driver video- this is real and happened infront of me and my bestfriend TWICE within the same week (in public spaces)#JordanSpeaksUp pic.twitter.com/zsfon85mok — راية (@rayasawalha) October 14, 2019

“We have more important things to worry about”

“This is useless”

“Bas bedhom ye3malo jaw”

These remarks were said to shut down the movement, but we are done with silence.#JordanSpeaksUp is trending

An article was written (first of many)

ITS ON THE RADIO

WE CANNOT BE SILENCED — Zeena (@ZeenaDawod) October 15, 2019

An expat joined the conversation by speaking about her experience as a female in Jordan. She pointed out that as beautiful the famous Petra is, females encounter severe sexual harassment there.

Petra is 1 of the most incredible places I’ve been to. However, as a woman traveling alone in Jordan, I was sexually harassed every day & even felt scared at times. This shouldn’t happen & I have so much respect for the younger generation in Jordan & the #JordanSpeaksUp movement! pic.twitter.com/MpJiD0ZWSc — Kerry✈️⚽️ (@KerrySomewhere) October 13, 2019

Twitter users also brought attention to the fact that toxic masculinity plays a huge role in the rape culture of the country. Boys are raised to be tough and violent, and are also subjected to abuse and harassment.

Men are harassed in #Jordan at a very young age. They are bullied into submission just as soon as they do not meet the minimum masculinity requirements. They are sexually exploited by stronger and older men alike. Child rape is real. The same goes for women.#JordanSpeaksUp — Ar Bazian☭Ⓐ ⚛☮ (@a_bazian) October 16, 2019

A male friend of mine was sexually abused as a child by an older man about 30 years ago. Being a taboo subject, he was never able to tell anyone. #JordanSpeaksUp — Zeina Shahzada (@Nashmiyya) October 16, 2019

I’m very proud of the all those strong women talking about their experiences in #JordanSpeaksUp . Also I’m encouraging men who survived sexual harassment to talk about it as well. — LGBTQ Jordan ميم الاردن (@LGBTJordan) October 16, 2019

Speaking up about sexual harassment and assaults in Jordan remains a taboo in the country. The campaign has faced some resistance from people who say #JordanSpeaksUp stories are exaggerated.

حسستونا انه كل شباب الاردن متحرشين 🤣

وخصوصاً الشباب الي موافق على هالحكي 🤔

التحرش موجود ولكن بنسب ضئيله مش زي ما بحكوا هون في مبالغه بالموضوع

ملاحظ اي موضوع بخص البنت بصير فيه مبالغه وهذا سببه رخص بعض الشباب الي بحاول يبين انه متحضر 🤣

خليك موضوعي لا تبالغ👍🏻#JordanSpeaksUp pic.twitter.com/nu3012UDF7 — Ahmad Ghanem (@Mr_Ghanem) October 16, 2019

Translation: "You make it sound as though all Jordanian guys are harassers. Harassment does happen but not to the extent people are making it out to be. It's being exaggerated. Notice how every girls' issue is always exaggerated and that's because of men who pretend to be progressive. Be reasonable, stop exaggerating."

Others blamed women for dressing immodestly.

#JordanSpeaksUp التحرش جريمة بكافة أساليبه . لكن اللباس الفاضح باعتقادي يعتبر تحرشا بالآخرين . واعيد واكرر أن التحرش مجرم — Mohamad Alabadi (@MohamadAlabadi2) October 16, 2019

Translation: "Harassment is a crime in all regards but revealing attire in my opinion is a form of harassment in itself. But I repeat, harassment is a crime."

But now that people are finally confronting the issue, they hope to erase the stigma around it and change the attitude toward victim blaming.