WUNRN
MOROCCO CAMPAIGN FOR EXPAT
WOMEN'S RIGHTS - FAMILY CODE LAW
By Siham Ali
for Magharebia in
[Abdelhak
Senna/AFP/Getty Images] Civil society groups and government agencies from |
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
Participants set off in
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
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
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
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.