WUNRN
MOROCCO - WOMEN ACTIVISTS CALL FOR
INCLUSION IN DRAFTING NEW VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN LEGISLATION
5
December 2013 - Violence against women is a hot topic in Morocco, where women's
rights activists in have criticised the Islamist-led government for excluding
them from drafting a proposed legislation to combat violence against women. They also accuse the government for seeking to dilute the
bill through changes.
The long-awaited bill, currently under study, comes after the adoption of a new
constitution in 2011 that enshrines gender equality and urges the state to
promote it.
In the preliminary version of the bill, prison sentences of up to 25 years
threaten perpetrators of violence against women.
The bill, still in drafting state, would take unprecedented steps towards
criminalising sexual harassment, risking possible three-year prison terms for
suspects.
"We have waited for years for this law and we are now very disappointed by
its content," said Najat Errazi, who heads the Moroccan Association for
Women's Rights, speaking at a meeting in Casablanca, to discuss the bill,
according to AFP news agency.
Facing several objections, the government has been forced to establish a
committee, headed by Abdelilah Benkirane, the country's prime minister from the
Islamist Party of Justice and Development, to review the draft law and
demonstrate its willingness to cooperate.
The progress is being closely followed in Morocco, where many have had
traumatic personal experiences of violence, whether domestic or committed by
strangers.
According to a study by the state planning commission, HCP, around one in every two
unmarried women in Morocco was subjected to physical and/or verbal sexual
violence during the year that it was carried out.
According to the study, nearly nine percent of women in Morocco have been
physically subjected to sexual violence at least once.
Sexual violence of a physical or psychological nature has affected some 25
percent of women overall, and a startling 40 percent among 18- to 24-year-olds.
During an official visit to Morocco in October, UN Women Deputy Executive Director
Lakshmi Puri visited the Nejma Centre, where women survivors of violence
benefit from counselling, training, information, psychological support and
legal advice. At the Nejma Centre, Ms. Puri met with women as well as the staff
members of the NGO. Sitting around a table, the women shared their stories.
“My husband kicked me and my child out at 2:00 a.m. at night and without money.
I went to the police station but I realized my husband had already bribed them.
My family is modest and couldn’t help me. I came to Nejma Centre. Mounia [one
of the counselors] gave me advice and put me in touch with a lawyer to help me
take the right steps,” said one of the women.
Another woman recounted that she was so desperate when she first arrived that
she “wanted to die”. But sharing her story helped her to focus on her child and
“to fight for her rights”. “We know our rights and we feel empowered to face
our perpetrators and start legal proceedings against them,” she added.
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