Everyday gendered violence: women’s experiences of and discourses on street sexual harassment in Morocco

ABSTRACT

According to statistics and media coverage, street sexual harassment is a prevalent form of gendered violence in Morocco. Yet, research about sexual harassment in the public space is underestimated and understudied, and its reasons and consequences remain apparently imperceptible to the daily interactions of men and women. The article seeks to explore the social meaning of women’s experiences of street harassment through qualitative interviews with individuals and focus groups. Women’s narratives are analysed, from a feminist and critical perspective, in order to represent and interpret emerging discourses about harassment. The objective of this research is to highlight the responsibility of religious, political and economic institutions, as well as the role of the family and mothers in particular, in legitimating gender inequalities and fostering violent behaviours and practices towards girls and women. The results of investigations reveal the cultural normalisation of sexual harassment, the sexual objectification of the female body and the negotiation of concepts of culpability and apology within gendered norms. That said, the study confirms that street harassment is indeed a manifestation of power relationships, a device of social control and a symbol of gender discrimination.

KEYWORDS:

• Sexual harassment
• public space
• women’s experiences
• Morocco
• individual/focus group interviews
• feminist/critical discourse

Acknowledgment

The author would like to thank the women participants for their time and for sharing their experiences. Many thanks to the anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments on earlier versions of this article. I'm also grateful to Professor George Joffé for his meticulous proofreading.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 India (Adur and Jha 2018; Bharucha and Khatri 2018; Madan and Nalla 2016; Dhillon and Bakaya 2014; Kapur 2014; Puri 2006), Egypt (Sadler 2018; Henry 2017; Grove 2015; Ilahi 2009), Bangladesh (Nahar, Van Reeuwijk, and Reis 2013), Pakistan (Zubair 2005; Anwar, Osterman, and Bjorkqvist 2019), Nepal (Neupane and Chesney-Lind 2014), Iran (Chabin 2014; Lahsaeizadeh and Yousefinejad 2012), Israel (Herzog 2007), Peru (Alcalde 2018), China (Can 1995; Parish et at 2006), France (Lebugle 2017), UK (Vera-Gray 2016), Finland (Koskela and Tani 2005), Australia (Fileborn 2017; Fileborn and Vera-Gray 2017), Canada (Macmillan, Nierobisz, and Welsh 2000; Welsh 1999; Lenton et al. 1999), Mexico (Graglia 2016), USA (Keller, Mendes, and Ringrose 2018; Lea, D’Silva, and Asok 2017; Farmer and Jordan 2017; Bailey 2017; Bastomski and Smith 2017; Davidson et al. 2016; Logan 2015; Hlavka 2014; Kearl 2010, 2015; Fairchild 2010; Wesselmann and Kelly 2010; Ayres, Friedman, and Leaper 2009; Fairchild and Rudman 2008; Swim et al. 2001; Nielson 2000; Swim and Hyers 1999; Gardner 1995; Bowman 1993; Kissling 1991).

2 World Population Review. Accessed March 12, 2019, http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/morocco-population/.

3 The Ministry of Family, Solidarity, Equality and Social Development. Accessed May 16, 2019, http://www.social.gov.ma.

4 The Global Gender Gap Report 2017 - Morocco. Accessed March 13, 2019, https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-gender-gap-report-2017.

5 ‘Understanding Masculinities: International men and gender equality survey (MENA)’ – UN Women, 2017. Accessed March 14, 2019, https://promundoglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMAGES-MENA-Multi-Country-Report-EN-16May2017-web.pdf.

6 ‘Uproar in Morocco after collective sexual assault of mentally challenged girl’. Morocco World News. Accessed March 14, 2019, https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2017/08/226650/morocco-sexual-assault-mentally-girl/.

7 ‘7 Months after Casablanca incident, another sexual assault stirs public uproar in Morocco’. Morocco World News. Accessed March 14, 2019, https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2018/03/243268/7-months-casablanca-bus-sexually-assaulting-girl-public-uproar-morocco/. ‘Moroccan authorities arrest sexual assault perpetrator’. Morocco World News. Accessed March 14, 2019, https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2018/03/243286/moroccan-authorities-arrest-sexual-assault-dgsn/.

8 ‘Morocco shock at Khadija Brutal rape ordeal’. BBC News. Accessed March 14, 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-45321342.

9 ‘Sexual harassment kills a young woman’. Hespress. Accessed March 17, 2019, https://www.hespress.com/videos/425692.html.

10 Bulletin Officiel. Article 503-1-1, p 1386. Accessed March 17, 2019, http://www.sgg.gov.ma/BO/FR/2018/BO_6688_Fr.pdf?ver=2018-07-11-124300-213.

11 ‘Historical law on violence against women goes into effect September 12’. Morocco World News. Accessed March 14, 2019, https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2018/09/253413/law-against-violence-women-morocco/.

12 The foreigners were western women who had lived in the country more than six months and belonged to certain privileged groups. They have been included in this study to demonstrate their different perspectives, understandings and coping behaviour regarding sexual harassment. These women have liberal attitudes about gender issues and tend to accept harassment in general as the culture of the host country and also because they will eventually return to their countries-of-origin at a certain point in their lives.

13 This term refers to independent women with a critical vision towards social control and an awareness of gender justice, women who struggle for gender equality and challenge the gendered norms, women who may have lived or travelled abroad.