The global advancement of progressive women’s rights has generated intense backlash from conservative groups and regimes. Backlash can take many forms, ranging from physical attacks on and detainment of activists, to online smear campaigns against feminist organizations. In this paper, I explore how the Jordanian state uses bureaucratic red tape - like delaying or denying permits for certain groups or activities - to repress and undermine (some forms of) women’s activism. I conceptualize this response to activism around gender justice as a form of backlash - bureaucratic backlash. Drawing on interviews with NGO leaders and activists, I investigate how and why some women’s rights groups face greater opposition from the regime, while others are given the green-light to carry on their operations. While bureaucratic backlash may not seem as egregious as, for example, imprisoning an activist, I contend that this formal, institutionalized backlash has the power effectively undermine and silence activities that counter the state’s narrative that ‘Jordan is a regional leader in women’s rights.’ Moreover, this oversight is indicative of the shrinking space for civil society in Jordan more broadly, and of the state's banal and conservative approach to women's rights more specifically.