WUNRN
MOROCCO NOMAD WOMAN OF THE HIGH
ATLAS MOUNTAINS
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Many
of the Moroccan Atlas nomad women have facial tattoos which signify their
marital status.
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COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF
DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN CONCLUDES FORTIETH SESSION
Issues Conclusions on Reports of
Bolivia, Burundi, Saudi Arabia, France, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Morocco and Sweden
1 February 2008
Morocco
Having considered the combined third
and fourth periodic reports of Morocco, the Committee commended the State party
for the important legal reforms undertaken in the field of human rights and
especially to eliminate existing discrimination against women. The Committee
expressed its satisfaction at Morocco's ratification of the United Nations
Convention against Transactional Organized Crime, and the publication of the
two Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, since
those two international instruments also covered the human rights of women and
the girl child. The Committee also noted with satisfaction the reorganization
of the Conseil Consultatif des Droits de l’Homme (the Advisory Council on
Human Rights), which was in line with the Paris Principles, and other
instruments and bodies that contributed to the protection of the human rights
of women. The Committee also commended Morocco on the various plans, programmes
and other measures aimed at implementing human rights on the domestic level,
such as national strategies for gender equity and equality, to eliminate
violence against women, for universal basic education, and on migration.
The Committee remained concerned that, although the Constitution guaranteed
equality before the law, it did not enshrine the principle of equality between
women and men in all spheres, and that legislation did not contain an explicit
definition of the principle of equality, or of discrimination on the basis of sex.
While commending the Morocco's legislative reforms and awareness-raising
programmes on women’s human rights, the Committee was concerned that newly
adopted legal regimes, such as the Family Code, were not yet well known or
applied in all regions of the State party, especially by members of the
judiciary. The Committee expressed concern that traditional discriminatory
practices and strong stereotypical attitudes persisted about the roles and
responsibilities of women and men in family and society, presenting a
significant impediment to the implementation of the Convention, and were a root
cause of the disadvantaged position of women in all areas. The Committee
remained deeply concerned that there was no specific legislation on violence
against women and girls, including domestic violence and violence against
domestic workers. The Committee also noted with concern the continuing high
level of illiteracy of women and girls, in particular in rural areas, which
demonstrated patterns of indirect discrimination, and about the high dropout
rate of girls from schools.
The Committee urged Morocco to incorporate the principle of equality between
women and men in its Constitution or in other appropriate law, that it enact
and implement a comprehensive law on gender equality that was binding on both
public and private sectors, and that women were made aware of their rights
under such legislation. The Committee recommended that Morocco intensify
awareness-raising campaigns and training on the newly-adopted legislation, and
invited it to enhance women’s awareness of their rights through sustained legal
literacy programmes and legal assistance. The Committee encouraged Morocco to
address stereotypical attitudes about the roles and responsibilities of women
and men, including the hidden cultural patterns and norms that perpetuated
direct and indirect discrimination against women and girls in all areas of
their lives. The Committee urged Morocco to enact as soon as possible
legislation on violence against women and girls, including domestic violence,
to ensure that all violence against women constituted a criminal offence, that
women and girls who were victims of violence had access to immediate means of
protection and redress, and that perpetrators were prosecuted and punished
adequately. The Committee recommended that Morocco implement measures to ensure
access to girls and women to all levels of education, and to strengthen its
efforts to improve the literacy level of girls and women through the adoption
of comprehensive programmes. Finally, Morocco was urged to raise general
awareness of the importance of education as a human right and as a basis for
the empowerment of women, and to take steps to overcome traditional attitudes
that perpetuated discrimination.
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