Creating a visual memory of raped women’s pain and portraying their interior voices are the aims of the artist Rand Abdelnur’s first solo exhibition titled “Woman II: Adorned with Jasmine” in Amman, Jordan.

Her paintings address Article 308 of the Jordanian penal code, a controversial article still at the core of socio-political debate in Jordan. The passage states: “If a valid contract of marriage is made between the perpetrator (of any of the offenses mentioned in this section) and the victim, the prosecution is suspended. If judgment was already passed, the implementation of the punishment upon the sentenced person is suspended.”

Like feminist associations and human rights organizations, Abdelnur was also troubled by the law. The accumulation of stories about honor killings, sexual violence, harassment and young women forced into marriage led the 27-year-old Jordanian painter to take up her brushes to raise awareness.

The colorful patterns of the tents where weddings take place appear in the women’s dresses in Abdelnur’s paintings. “I used elements from our culture. When someone sees these tents, they immediately say, 'Oh, there is a marriage!'” Abdelnur told Al-Monitor. “But now the same pattern is worn by a woman who is raped. It is a double punishment: First the rape, and then the marriage.”