Violence against women: the stark reality behind Morocco’s human rights progress

ABSTRACT

While the dominant narrative suggests that Morocco is a champion of stability and moderation in the ‘Arab world,’ this article challenges that discourse and argues that the state’s hagiographic narrative on women’s rights and gender equality is problematic. This article also draws attention to the discontinuity between the legal focus on violence against women (VAW) by women’s rights groups on one hand and the views and needs of non-elite Moroccan women on the other. This focus on reforms in the legal space has, concomitantly, left the existing power structures, which lay at the heart of inequality in Morocco, unchallenged. By illustrating these two arguments, the article also highlights a mutually fashioning, albeit asymmetrical, relationship between the government and women’s rights groups, which perpetuates inadequacies in both of their approaches.

KEYWORDS:

• Violence against women
• women’s rights
• minorities’ and indigenous peoples’ rights
• gender
• Morocco
• Arab spring

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to extend her gratitude to Ronan Macnamara at the University College Dublin for his time in proof-reading and providing useful suggestions to improve the very early drafts of this article; Dr Hugh McDonnell at the University of Edinburgh for his timely and constructive feed-back on several drafts of this article; Dr Kathleen Cavanaugh at the Irish Centre for Human Rights of the National University of Ireland, Galway, whose feedback was crucial to bring the manuscript to its final shape; and last but not least, the two anonymous reviewers whose comments were instrumental to clarifying and refining the article’s main arguments. Any errors or oversights are mine alone.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Silvia Gagliardi http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3802-5521

Notes

1. The rationale for prioritising women self-identifying as Amazigh or of Amazigh descent lies in the fact that the author’s doctoral research revolves around human rights and gender equality issues for minority/indigenous women. Significantly, the Amazigh people – and especially women – feature among the most marginalised and under-represented communities in their access to economic, social and cultural rights. Amazigh peoples are the ethnically majoritarian, indigenous peoples of Morocco although estimates vary as to their exact number ranging between 40% and 70%. The Amazigh language is recognised as an official language of Morocco (Constitution of Morocco 2011, art. 5) while the Amazigh element is enumerated among the key features of Morocco’s unity (Constitution of Morocco 2011, preamble).

2. On Morocco’s usage of the human rights discourse for its own political purposes, see, inter alia: Charrad 2001, Cavatorta and Dalmasso 2009, Žvan Elliott 2015.

3. The draft law 103/03 on VAW has been sitting before Morocco’s House of Councillors since August 2016. Furthermore, no date has yet been agreed upon to discuss the bill.

4. The rape definition in the Code is inadequate as it defines the crime according to: sex (of both survivor [female] and perpetrator [male]; type (‘sexual relations’); the category (‘attacks to good morals’ rather than those to physical integrity) (Penal Code of Morocco 1962, art. 486). As well, there is no specific provision that criminalises marital rape, which is a form of VAW and a traditional harmful practice against women (UNGA 1993, art. 2; UNHRC 2012, 7). Another discriminatory provision is contained in art. 488, which provides for heavier penalties if the rape and indecent assault lead to the ‘deflowering’ of the (female) victim, who also has to demonstrate its physical effects upon her (Penal Code of Morocco 1962, art. 488). In the case of rape, authorities can pursue the survivor of this crime if the suspected rapist is acquitted (Human Rights Watch 2015).

5. These include provisions related to polygamy, divorce, guardianship of children and inheritance (Family Code 2004, arts. 40–46, 123–124, 236, 316–319).

6. These include Moroccan women’s rights activists the author interviewed between 2012 and 2014.

7. In 2012 Moroccan judges granted over 36,000 requests to permit child marriages (that is 86% of all requests). See: HCP 2013, 22.

8. The Code also recognises the principle of non-discrimination between men and women in employment and wages (arts. 9, 346, 478).

9. See also: http://www.huffpostmaghreb.com/2015/07/07/ou-en-est-loi-harcelement-sexuel-maroc_n_7741702.html (accessed 31 July 2017).

10. These include: equality between men and women in their enjoyment of rights; prohibition of discrimination based on sex; right to life; right to liberty and security of person; prohibition of torture; prohibition of slavery and servitude; right to equality before the law; freedom of movement and to choose one’s residence; right to health; right to marriage and to found a family.

11. After recently (2011) withdrawing reservations ‘incompatible with the object and purpose of the present Convention,’ (CEDAW 1979, art. 28.2), Morocco made specific declarations, which can be read as reservations. Regarding policy measures (CEDAW 1979, art. 2), Morocco expressed its willingness to apply this provision insofar as it does not conflict with Shari’a Law. Regarding equality before the law and movement of persons and choice of residence and domicile (CEDAW 1979, art. 15.4), Morocco declared that: ‘It can only be bound by the provisions (…) to the extent that they are not incompatible with articles 34 and 36 of the Moroccan Code of Personal Status.’

12. The merits and contours of the secular versus religious (including Islamic and Islamist) feminism debate will not be discussed here.

13. The Universal Periodic Review is one of the UN Human Rights Mechanisms. For more, see: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/BasicFacts.aspx (accessed 01 August 2017).

14. See: https://www.yabiladi.com/articles/details/49030/maroc-associations-veulent-amender-projet.html (accessed 31 July 2017).

15. This family law or ‘Moudawana’ was approved with ‘Dahir n° 1-04-22 du 12 hija 1424 (03 Février 2004) portant promulgation de la Loi n° 70–03 portant code de la famille (Bulletin Officiel n° 5358 du 2 ramadan 1426 (06 Octobre 2005), p. 667).

16. These include: Moroccan NGOs’ shadow reports to UN Treaty Bodies (most recently to the UN Human Rights Committee in 2016) and public campaigns and events led by prominent Moroccan NGOs that also operate as members of the Coalition ‘Printemps de la Dignité’. See: https://pdmaroc.wordpress.com/qui-sommes-nous/ (accessed 31 July 2017).

17. Family Code of Morocco (2004) accessible at: http://www.consulatdumaroc.ca/forms/codefamillefr.pdf (accessed 31 July 2017).

Additional information

Funding

This research was partially supported by the Irish Research Council Postgraduate Scholarship allocated to the author for the period of 2014–2018 [grant number RCS 1327].