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MOROCCO CAMPAIGN FOR EXPAT WOMEN'S RIGHTS - FAMILY CODE LAW

 

Morocco launched a massive campaign to extend the application of Moudawana  (Moroccan Family Law) to women living and working abroad.

By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat – 26/10/10

[Abdelhak Senna/AFP/Getty Images] Civil society groups and government agencies from Morocco began a campaign to raise awareness about the rights of women who move abroad for work.

Six years ago the Moroccan government introduced a new Civil Status Code to protect the rights of women. But as the number of Moroccans living abroad (MREs) increases, so too does the need to bring expat women under the protection of the Moudawana.

In an attempt increase understanding of the code's protections, Moroccan officials, including Ministry in charge of MREs, Justice and Social Development Ministries, partnered with the Ytto Foundation for women's rights and other civil society groups for an unprecedented awareness caravan across Europe.

Participants set off in France on October 14th and will traverse Germany, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands. The campaign includes meetings, workshops and conferences as well as distributing simplified leaflets on family code.

According to the ministry in charge of MREs, the expat community does not understand Moudawana well. Moroccan women abroad face a number of issues and are unable to vindicate their rights based on the code.

Najat Ikhich, President of the Ytto Foundation, said that the overwhelming majority of Moroccan women are not aware of the provisions of the family code and the changes made over the past six years.

She pointed out that a huge number of Moroccans marry in mosques solely based on the readings from fatiha and choose not to register nuptials in order to legitimise early marriages and polygamy.

"The impact on women's rights is immense especially once they return to Morocco. Women are abandoned with their children, deprived of their papers and have no possibility to enter the host country. Moreover, they find themselves in difficult situations with children not registered in the Moroccan civil status and not recognised by the Moroccan law as legitimate children," Ikhich said.

According to the Ytto Foundation, many Moroccan girls fall victim to forced and arranged marriages. Ikhich said the awareness caravan aims to expose archaic practices and convince women, youths and men of the danger of these types of marriages from a psychological point of view.

"Illiteracy is in full swing among Moroccan women in Italy. So they are marginalised and do not understand their rights. An awareness campaign is a must," said Noura Faouzi, chief of Italian-based NGO Al Maghribia.

The president of the Democratic League for Women's Rights, Fouzia Assouli said that married couples face huge problems, particularly with regard to petitions for divorce that are incurred in Morocco. The association is calling for the introduction of provisions allowing some couples to solve this problem in the country of residence so as to avoid travelling.

Siham Jebbari, based in Italy, said she had to travel several times to Morocco to finally get divorced last year. "It was hard for me to have time off during periods of appointments set by the court. Besides, the trips are very expensive. I would have liked the consulate to deal with this case or the court in Italy," she said.

The minister responsible for MREs, Mohamed Ameur emphasised that his department aims to improve the legal conditions of women and their families abroad by introducing support structures in the communities.

He noted that among the stated objectives is the implementation of listening centres that Moroccan women abroad could turn to. The centres would help identify women's requests and prescribe appropriate treatment for their problems.

The first stage of the caravan ends on October 31st, with organisers planning to launch more campaigns until December.

This content was commissioned for Magharebia.com.