Jordan launched a U.S.-funded project Monday to curb violence and other forms of abuse against women under the auspices of the country’s Queen Rania.

Organizers said the campaign was aimed at changing widespread Jordanian misconceptions condoning violence against women, as well as providing services to those experiencing abuse.

A 2002 study, “Jordan Demographic and Health Survey,” found that 87 percent of women here believe their husbands are justified in using physical or verbal abuse.

“I was very surprised by the high percentage,” said Hana Shahin, executive director of the Noor al Hussein Foundation, one of three local organizations spearheading the initiative in conjunction with the U.S. Agency for International Development.

“We began to realize the extent of the problem by speaking with women who came to us for help,” Shahin said. “This led us to set up the first facility in Jordan to help abused women and provide them with counseling services.”

USAID is providing US$1 million (€0.7 million) to the five-year project, which aims to raise public awareness through ad campaigns, train medical and legal advisers to help victims and provide referral services.

Other partners include the National Council for Family Affairs and the Zein al Sharaf Institute for Development, both partially affiliated with the government.

The effort is viewed as further strengthening Jordan’s National Strategic Plan for Family Protection launched by Queen Rania several years ago.

“What’s important now is that we’re moving from theory to action,” said Asma Khader, a former Cabinet minister who heads the Jordanian National Commission for Women.

“The main obstacle is changing people’s perceptions,” she said. “But this is exactly what is needed to confront this practice.”

Khader said there was “an urgent need for public awareness campaigns, services and to strengthen protection methods and legal frameworks.”

Shahin added that her organization would soon start providing counseling services to the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees, particularly children, who have been victimized by violence in their homeland.

Jordan has several other programs in place aimed at protecting women from abuse, including a hot line and a government-run shelter to aid victims.

Women make up roughly half of the population of nearly 6 million people. But decision-making authority is largely held by men in this conservative tribal-based society. An average of 20 women are killed each year by male relatives in so-called “honor crimes,” in which male relatives murder them for simply having a relationship with a male.

Still, many women in Jordan enjoy more freedom than their counterparts in other Arab countries, like Saudi Arabia. They can drive cars, divorce their husbands, hold prominent positions in government and business and can travel abroad without the consent of male relatives.