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1. 

   BreakTheSilence 2013-1-9

   Call for Witnesses — We are looking for rape victims who wish to give their testimony in Casablanca and/or Rabat. The identity of all participants will be protected. E-mail for more information.

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2. 

   limakarim 2012-12-10

   Praise be to God. What I find illogical about this topic is that it calls for punishing a man having had a relation with a woman and describing it as rape. A man cannot have sex with a woman against her will. This is done with the approval of both sides. Woman often aspires to get married. It is woman who removes the pants of man. It is woman who lies down on the ground. So, this is considered consensual voluntary sex for the woman. But when she becomes pregnant, she accuses the man who slept with her of rape. This is not considered rape except when woman is forced under real threat and she is in a position where she can’t defend herself. This is because man cannot have sex with her except at will. It is very rare that woman falls victim of rape. Fear Your Lord and be fair! The woman who protects her honour can never be victim of rape, harassment or anything of this kind that touches her honour.

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3. 

   Essid 2012-4-13

   To Mohamed, who said to me, “To Essid- “In response to the last comment from Meriem (which was submitted two days ago and published today)” Why do you specify this? Do you have “extra senses” or are you simply letting us know that you are part of Magharebia’s staff our that you have a mole working with them?”- I am not part of Magharebia’s staff, I do not have a mole in Magharebia’s staff and I am not clairovoyant. I had posted two responses to Meriem. The first response was to a comment from Meriem from earlier. However, it seems that Magharebia has a delay between the submission of comments and the publication. I know this because it takes one to two days between when I submit my comments and when I see the comments published. Because of this, my first response was not published until after Meriem had written another comment. So, when I decided to respond to her new comment, in order to make it clear which comment I was responding to, I specified “In response to the last comment from Meriem (which was submitted two days ago and published today)”. And the reason that I know about the delay between the submission and the publication of Meriem’s comment is simple: in addition to a delay between the submission and publication of my own comments, I check this forum daily because Meriem and I are having a discussion. On the first day that I saw Meriem’s comment (which is to say the first day it appeared on the forum) the comment said “posted 2 days ago”. That is the reason I know about the delay. I will thank you to not make false and groundless accusations against me anymore.

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4. 

   Essid 2012-4-11

   [2] Continuation to عبد النعيم- … for women’s rights, as will the women whom they have indoctrinated to be their objects. As a rule, it is always up to the targets of discrimination, abuse and objectification to initiate their own fight because no one else is so motivated as they are. And once they have initiated the fight, they will encourage support for their cause among people who had theretofore been ignorant of, apathetic towards or lazy with concern to their situation. Thirdly, all that said, no one here is talking about a party that excludes men or that includes all women. I used the term “Women’s Party” to mean a party whose primary purpose is fight for women’s rights and gender equality, and anyone who supports these initiatives would be welcome in the party – regardless of whether they are men or women. This party, as I said above, would very likely need to be created and organised predominantly, but not exclusively by women in the beginning, hence the name “Women’s Party”, but it would welcome both men and women into its ranks at all stages of its existence. I thought that this was clear in my original comment. However, it seems that either I was too simplistic with my wording or Meriem is not actually reading my comments. Perhaps it is both since both you and Meriem misunderstood what I meant to say, which means I was not too clear, and since Meriem continues to talk about a party based on gender, which I did not mean to imply, instead of about a party based on women’s rights and gender equality, which I have repeatedly explained was the topic of my original comment.

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5. 

   Essid 2012-4-11

   [1] To عبد النعيم, who said, “I completely agree with Meriem. The respect for women’s rights is a matter for all of us. We must concentrate our efforts in order to rebuild a system where equality is the key word. And, in my opinion, the fight for women’s rights must be fight of men. So, in my opinion, a women’s party will not serve any cause. –Salam alaikoum”- Firstly, you are right that respect for women’s rights is a matter for everyone and I fully agree with you that equality must be the pillar of society. Secondly, men of what is modern-day Morocco have had over 5000 years during which they could have been fighting for women’s rights and gender equality; yet, a law is still in effect that forces a girl who is raped to marry her rapist and be subjected to a lifetime of rape and abuse so that he may be vindicated of his crimes. How many more thousands of years must women wait for men lead this fight? How many more girls must be raped or must die? Because men – even good men - are not the targets of this discrimination, this abuse and this objectification, they are often not as motivated as women to actively and persistently defend and advance women’s rights and gender equality and introduce these initiatives into public and political debat. Instead, they often remain ignorant of this mistreatment or apathetic or lazy. What is more, certain men – I will not say a majority or even a lot, but enough – benefit from their domination of women. They are thus going to fight against any advances made …

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6. 

   Mohamed 2012-4-10

   To Essid- “In response to the last comment from Meriem (which was submitted two days ago and published today)” Why do you specify this? Do you have “extra senses” or are you simply letting us know that you are part of Magharebia’s staff our that you have a mole working with them?

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7. 

   Essid 2012-4-8

   [3] Continuation to Meriem- If we are ever to see a party whose platform is equality from every angle, then history has shown that it will not simply be born out of compassion, but it will have to be born from the fight led by the targets of specific types of inequality, who organise into persistent forces of activism (i.e., parties) before merging into a greater unifying party. The party about which you speak is noble, but in order for it to be strong, it will have to go through the same process as all other good parties, which is to say, it will have to garner well-organised support for each individual group targeted by discrimination. A party for women’s rights and gender equality will be one of these parties for one of these groups. And the reason I said “Long live the Women’s Political Party of Morocco!” was not because I am advocating a party that excludes men or that I am stupid enough to think that it would include all women, but because it is too verbose (and thus not very motivational) to say, “Long live the Political Party of Morocco that advocates gender equality and women’s rights and will very likely need to be founded and organised primarily, but not exclusively by women in the beginning before joining other national movements for equality to coalesce into one large Equality Party of Morocco!” I think you can see why I shortened the title of the party to four words.

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8. 

   Essid 2012-4-8

   [2] Continuation to Meriem- This party would not exclude men and would not include all women (since many women have been indoctrinated as well), but it would be primarily composed of women, especially in the beginning, because they are the ones who are most motivated by being the victims of misogynistic discrimination. It would be incredibly revolutionary and incredibly beneficial to have a party based purely on equality, as you have proposed, but it is unrealistic and utopian to think that such a party will emerge out of thin air and suddenly constitute a well-organised persistent political force that combats all those interests that antagonise equality. In other words, compassion does not go far in politics. People have to act for their own cause and their own rights before they can expect anyone to join their movement. And the proof of this is already clear in the fact that there are still laws like this one, which force a girl who was raped to marry the rapist and be subjected to a life of rape and abuse. If such a party is going to exist, then it will need people to found it and organise it, and the people who do this are going to primarily, but not exclusively be the targets of imposed inequality – that is only logical. What is more, history has shown that there are many targets of the various forms of inequality, and once these targets become well organised, they tend to coalesce into coalitions of activists and parties and even to merge into one greater party.

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9. 

   Essid 2012-4-8

   [1] To Meriem- You said, “The composition of a political party cannot be founded on an ethnic, regional, cultural, religious or sexist basis. This is the minimum for a republic.” Okay, but no one is talking about a party based on gender. I am talking about a party that is based on advancing the equality of the sexes and women’s rights and on introducing these sorts of initiatives into political and public debate. In the beginning, such a party will necessarily be primarily, but not exclusively organised by the targets of sexist discrimination, that is to say, women. And the explanation for this is simple enough: (A) men are not likely to fully understand the plight of these targets of this discrimination if these issues are not already introduced into the public arena by a well-organised group; (B) without this understanding, men are not likely to be motivated to become activists for gender equality and women’s rights in the persistent and well-organised way necessary for real change; and (C) enough men have been indoctrinated by misogynistic ideology that they will form their own persistence and well-organised resistance to such a movement. In other words, it is highly improbable that a movement for gender equality and women’s rights will be organised spearheaded by anyone but a well-organised group of the targets of discrimination, who are in this case women.

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10. 

    عبد النعيم 2012-4-7

    I completely agree with Meriem. The respect for womens rights is a matter for all of us. We must concentrate our efforts in order to rebuild a system where equality is the key word. And, in my opinion, the fight for women’s rights must be fight of men. So, in my opinion, a women’s party will not serve any cause. –Salam alaikoum

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11. 

    Meriem 2012-4-4

    The composition of a political party cannot be founded on an ethnic, regional, cultural, religious or sexist basis. This is the minimum for a republic!!! All self-respecting legislation cannot ignore the principle of non-discrimination for the equality of citizens since a party is none other than a machine for winning power and thus has the purpose of governing and imposing its conception of things on all the people in the name of majority rule. The constitution must enshrine the principle of equality for all citizens before the law and the republican institutions without discrimination on the basis of sex (gender), origin, religion, ethnicity and social class, and it must enshrine the direct consequences of this: equality in all civil and political bodies - starting with the most important: school, which should be a democratic model of equality, where the governing bodies made up of the parents and the students themselves will be represented in equality. What is more, there is need to define the “social project” that one is claiming to build and that an equality party would bear. Such a party would be revolutionary or would not be at all!

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12. 

    Essid 2012-4-4

    [3] Continuation- If you could, then this law that forces girls who are raped to marry their rapist would have been nullified long ago by a compassionate, humanitarian political party. This was not the case, and that is because selflessness and compassion are rare characteristics in the political arena. This is why I think your analysis is too idealist and too simplistic: it fails to take into account the on-going struggle between two sides – the targets of discrimination on the one hand and the men who benefit from this discrimination (and the women who are indoctrinated to support it) on the other – and it fails to take into account just how rare compassion and humanism are in the political arena. All this goes to show that in order to push the issue of equality into the spotlight, the targets of discrimination will have to do it themselves. Once in the spotlight, this party will gain the support of many men, who can join its ranks and even be representatives of it. But the burden of initiating this process will always – unfairly and unfortunately – fall on the target of discrimination, who are women in this case. And then the party that they form will thus be able to attract support and attract attention to these issues and these unjust laws without waiting for innocent victims like this one (who was a victim of rape that was made into a victim of a lifetime of rape in order to vindicate the criminal rapist) and it will be able to fight against those men and those women who have been indoctrinated into subordinating women as second-class citizens and who constitute these anti-feminine interests.

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13. 

    Essid 2012-4-4

    [2] Continuation- As such, there is only one way to achieve equality (and to nullify laws that subject girls and women to a lifetime of hell at the hands of their rapist): there must be an organisation that sustains permanent vigilance and activism and that draws attention to their agenda of equality so that people who would, as would usually be expected, be ignorant or apathetic will take action to support them. In other words, there will have to be a political organisation whose sole purpose is to advocate and fight for this equality and these rights. And the reason that I specifically state that women will have to form this organisation is simply the fact that women – just like any other target of discrimination – cannot expect anyone else to take the initiative to fight for their rights and equality when these issues affect them more than anyone else. If it helps to make my point more clear, I know you are interested in the equality of the Amazigh people in the Maghreb. Would you agree that it would be foolish for Amazighs to wait for someone else to lead the fight for their rights and equality? Of course it would be foolish – even worse than foolish, it would be suicide. You cannot wait for someone else to fight your battles for you.

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14. 

    Essid 2012-4-4

    [1] In response to the last comment from Meriem (which was submitted two days ago and published today)- I do not know why you think that the women’s party that I proposed would exclude men or would include all women. This was not my suggestion, and this is would not be a solution to laws such as this one (which forced a young girl who was raped to marry the rapist) since the support of both genders is required to achieve the equality of the sexes. Moreover, it would be impossible for any party to acquire the support of one sex, but no support from the opposite sex. Again, this was not my suggestion. What I was suggesting was that there need to be a party that advocates the equality of the sexes and women’s rights in order to draw attention to these initiatives, and that the only way that this will happen is if women take the initiative. I think that your analysis is too idealist and too simplistic, and I am going to try to explain why. There are interests that go against women’s rights and they will fight to keep women in a subordinate position. And you can be sure that if there is an active political effort to dismantle the social and political structures of discrimination, these anti-feminine interests will organise themselves to impede this process as much as possible. And the very fact that discrimination and violations of women’s dignity are still enshrined in laws like this one proves this is the case. Every fight for rights and equality is, in fact, a war, which is made up of many battles: the victims of discrimination succeed in winning a battle, and then the interests regroup to try to undermine or repeal their success, then the cycle repeats.

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15. 

    Essid 2012-4-3

    To Meriem- I want to add that I do not think that we will see anything on the part of our male politicians. They have not advanced such initiatives for women’s equality, and, quite the opposite, they have often pandered to misogynistic trends. If the male politicians in power truly cared about women’s rights, a law that forces the victim of a rapist to marry the rapist would not still be in effect. I do not see how the initiatives that you and I are discussing could be implemented at the national level without a party whose main agenda is to advocate the equality of sexes and to introduce these issues into political and popular debate. Of course, men could support the party and be members of the party, and, of course, not every woman would support the party (since many have unfortunately been indoctrinated into believing they are subordinate). It would be foolish to think that this party would exclude men or would include every woman. However, at the beginning stages, it would most likely primarily (but not exclusively) be women who organise this party because who else is going to organise themselves around issues that affect women the most? Clearly, people who have a stake in a thing are more likely to take action to advocate that thing. And from there, the party can put issues of women’s equality in the spotlight and garner support from many persons in the male and female population. What is more, a party that has a large female makeup will also empower women and men who may lack the confidence to stand up for the equality of the sexes at the level of their community or their family.

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16. 

    Meriem 2012-4-1

    Equality in all civil, political and economic bodies is the sole true answer to the marginalisation of women and all of its negative consequences for their rights. Reproducing the traditional masculine patterns à la woman is absurd and unrealistic. A women’s party is idiotic when you know that being a women does not systematically equal defending women’s right, but sometimes means the opposite. There are enough women against the emancipation of women as there are women for it. In the same way, there are a lot of men who are fervent defenders of women’s rights, particularly at school and at work, given that they hold influence in the legitimate fight of women. How many women from our mothers’ generations studied (to be scholars, doctors and lawyers) and were liberated by their clear-minded, avant-gardist fathers at that time given the current regression. We do not want a society dominated by one or the other. We want a harmonious society where men and women are treated the same by the law and have the same rights and the same duties as well as the same opportunities in society thanks to education that is within every man and woman’s reach. The same opportunities assume a proper social standing –the parents having work and adequate support for institutions that should contribute to the protection of the nations wealth, the children, without whom nothing would be possible. This is why we clearly need to establish another model of society, and only political forces representative of the interests in question can implement this when acceding to power. This fight is the fight of men and women united in a modern and revolutionary joint party.

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17. 

    abderahim 2012-3-31

    Salam alikum. It is necessary to adopt an international law to protect the young girl from such hideous acts. There should be a law in favour of the raped young girl. It should be a strict law against anyone who commits such acts. Everyone should be granted his right. Salam alikum.

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18. 

    Essid 2012-3-30

    [2] Continuation to Meriem- As a side note, let me explain that when I say “culture”, I am not saying that every male member of this culture abuses his wife. That is far from the truth. I am only saying that our social norms and the political structure that has developed from them have a tendency to wrongfully vindicate the man of any responsibility in spousal violence or in violations of women’s dignity such as rape. Secondly, you are also correct that education and other social initiatives to enable women to support themselves and improve their conditions (for example, by having access to their own gainful employment) are quite necessary to overcoming these problems. But here is one question: who is going to implement such policies? Do you think it will come from the male-dominated political system? Do you think that men will want to give up this wrongful vindication, which is essentially the legal right to abuse the other half of the population. Some male politicians may care about women’s rights, but given the continued existence of laws like this one, which allowed a rapist to marry his victim to escape punishment, it seems that most male politicians are (A) either not thinking about the issue of women’s rights; or (B) do want to protect their unfair prerogative over women and over the political system, which largely excludes women; or (C) they fear losing the support of male voters, who make up the majority of the electorate (since women are so marginalised in the political system that many do not vote.)

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19. 

    Essid 2012-3-30

    [1] To Meriem- I will limit myself to responding to the latter two thirds of your comment, but I will say that I have some doubts about your aim here since you dedicated the first third of your comment to responding to my comment (without mentioning my name). and accusing me of indecency, of making fun of violence against and of proposing a misogynist party formed of women. All three of these accusations are groundless, and anyone can see it as such if they read my comment. Moreover, the third accusation makes no sense. How could a party formed of women gain support if it was misogynist? In any case, let us discuss the latter two thirds of you comment. Firstly, you attribute the problems of women, particularly spousal abuse, to their socio-economic standing. You are largely correct about this, but there are some details that you have left out. Wives in wealthy families are victims of spousal abuse, and just like the wives in poor families. We can assume that the frequency of such cases may be lower since poverty and desperation are often the sources of the frustration that leads men to abuse their wives, but it is in fact hard to know the frequency since it is rare in Morocco for women in any socio-economic standing to discuss domestic abuse. What is known is that spousal abuse does exist even in the wealthier classes, and it also often goes unreported even in these wealthier classes. The frequency may be lower, but the phenomenon exists. One reason for this is a culture that wrongfully places the shame on the victim, that is, the woman.

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20. 

    meriem 2012-3-27

    If this article is a joke, it is not funny and it is even out of line. The subject of violence against women does not tolerate humour or jokes. Its tone is indecent. The misogynist parties are something bad, and it would be stupid to reproduce them à la women. The problem is consequence of how society works. Does a woman from a wealthy family also exposed to violence perpetrated against women? On the rare occasions that this happens, does she not have a lot more of a chance to have good family, social or legal support that will permit her to move beyond this tragedy and continue to live – if not normally, then nearly so? The divide is less that of men and women than it is that of socio-economics. Most men are alien to the poor treatment inflicted upon some women, and some women systematically do not defend the women victims. The facts show that poverty leads to misfortune, and out of cowardice, some men beat as a priority the most fragile among us: the women who have fewer possibilities to defend themselves and to harm them back as they deserve. The improvement of the social conditions of the poorest is one of the parameters to be implemented at the same time as developing true educational policies that favour boys and also, more especially, girls. The latter cannot be “saved” except by education, which comes from mandatory school up to age 16. This policy has no chance to succeed without the social policies stated above – all of which must be guaranteed by the law and the judiciary and be determined by true political will.

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21. 

    tellitasis 2012-3-27

    ESSID...you are the greatest...I agree with all you said this is where education comes in... thanks

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22. 

    BEN 2012-3-26

    There are cases that are akin to rape where parents or legal guardians will arrange their underage girl’s marriage. After the wedding night, the girl finds herself in the hospital for reasons we all know, but we hide. One can imagine the agony of the marriage against her will and under the pressure of her parents. And once she becomes an adult, she will demand a divorce. That is a real uphill battle in the courts for this victim, and in 80% of the cases it leads nowhere. Yet, the Family Statues was clear in its social definition of marriage as the union of two persons who have freely expressed their will. When are we going to give justice to these women, who are trapped in a shared life that they did not choose and are living an ordeal every day due to unrivalled fear and psychological distress.

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23. 

    جيهان جعدان 2012-3-24

    Victims of rape are considered a disgrace for society especially in Arab Islamic societies. The question is what is the guilt she has committed so that society disavows her? Why should they forebear the arrogance and instinctive desires of men? Why do we give them the right to keep up their crimes under the pretext of manhood and charge the girl with the guilt? If Amina Filali committed suicide, it is not the mistake of the Moroccan law and her family which weren’t fair to her, it is the responsibility of all Moroccan society and every individual for their racist and selfish ideas which put the girl in the circle of wrong because she is a girl.

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24. 

    توفيق من الجزائر.. 2012-3-23

    Salam alikum. First of all, I begin with praying for the mercy of Amina Filali who has gone to her Lord. Before embarking on such a topic, it is necessary to debate the issue in the tolerant sharia in which our prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him the outlet so that we won’t be lost and avoid philosophising a lot. Raping is without doubt one of the most hideous crimes. It is a form of corruption on earth. It is not accepted by anyone for his family. Moreover, if the individual dies while fighting for his honour, he is considered a martyr. But if rape is with the consent of both sides and there is no coercion, both sides are involved in the sin and corruption which happened. Therefore, it is necessary to implement sharia in such cases because there is no way for jurisprudence in the presence of sanctions and texts. But if rape is committed between the two sides secretly with their consent, it is considered adultery. If they want to cover their act and marry, they will be covered by the verse in which God the Almighty says that an adulterer should marry only an adulteress or polytheist and the adulteress should be married only by an adulterer or polytheist and this is forbidden for believers. This is a verse from Surat Annour. But if rape is committed by man and woman is coerced, Islam considers her a chaste pure woman as if she wasn’t touched by anyone. Therefore, she shouldn’t marry her rapist. God knows better!

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25. 

    Essid 2012-3-23

    [5] Continuation- This is the only way that women will be able to represent themselves without having their representatives be subject to male-dominated political party. And while the issue of protection against rape is of the utmost importance, there are many other cases where women’s rights are being violated in the political and socio-political arena by men (for example, rights to inheritance, rights to divorce, rights to grant their children Moroccan citizenship, rights to various governmental programmes and projects), and a permanent women’s political party would be a good start to winning these rights. So, long live the Women’s Political Party of Morocco!

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26. 

    Essid 2012-3-23

    [4] Continuation- Men have unequally, unfairly and immorally been given the right to sexually violate women and then, in order to escape punishment for that crime, to force the woman into a lifetime of sexual and emotional violation. Husbands have also been given the right to sexually, physically and emotionally violate their wives. And in all of these cases, women have been stripped of the right to protect themselves by being deprived of the right to prosecute the rapist who forces her into marriage or to the husband who rapes her. There is no such thing as rights and freedoms that necessarily violate the rights and freedoms of someone else: this violates the supreme tenet of equality. It is despicable for any country to have laws such as these. Laws like these are the result of what happens when women are excluded from the political process, and such is the case in Morocco. Here in Morocco, the only women in politics are the women who have acquiesced to political parties and patronage networks dominated by men. The political bosses are entirely disdainful of women except when they want to use them as propaganda. Thus, the few women in political office refrain from speaking out for women’s rights because they know that they owe their position in the government to these loathsome men. As I see it, at this point in time, the only way for women to resolve this inequality, immorality, injustice and indoctrination is to form their own permanent political party and to support that party en masse.

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27. 

    Essid 2012-3-23

    [3] Continuation- Unfortunately, as history has so frequently shown, humans tend to use power (physical, social, political, economic etc.) to advance their personal interests and the interests of their group to the detriment of others or those who are not members of their group. In other words, this is the law of the strongest, which is utterly fallacious and devious. It is thus no surprise that a political system dominated by men would seek to give men the so-called right to violate women’s rights, and this is precisely what rape is and what forcing a women who has been raped to marry the rapist is. Equally unfortunate is the fact that the meaning of “rights” and “freedoms” is so poorly understood in our country. “Rights” and “freedoms” were conceived to protect people from the law of the strongest. Ideally, rights and freedoms are intangible and immutable and equal for everyone. Rights and freedoms grant us the ability to exercise and practice our free will so long as the way in which we exercise and practice our free will does not interfere with the rights and freedoms of others to exercise and practice their free will in the same way. This prevents the ruling power – whether it be a monarch or a democratic majority - from persecuting or exploiting or oppressing or otherwise violating minorities. But, as we see in Morocco, the notion of rights and freedoms has been deformed and abused because it has been stripped of its most important tenet: equality.

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28. 

    Essid 2012-3-23

    [2] Continuation- This is the realm in which laws are replaced by cultural norms and the enforcement of laws is replaced by societal pressures that range between rewarding good behaviour to shaming through gossip and physical abuse. Both systems are dominated by men, so much that the indoctrination and propaganda that goes with these systems are largely thought to be the “truth” even by many women. This is domination by disinformation. For example, when men beat women, they tell women that they deserve it. If women go to police, who are part of the political system, the police often refuse to help them because they are men. And the women cannot seek help from their community because other men also “enjoy” the right to beat their wives and many women have been so indoctrinated into believing that men have the right to beat women “if the woman deserves it”, that they will assume that the woman deserved to be beaten. Of course, I am not talking about everyone, but there are enough. This mentality has been passed down for so many generations that we call it “culture”, but in reality it is the subconscious indoctrination of men and women so that men feel entitled to be abusive misogynists and women feel obliged to submit to men. So let me put this clearly: no one has the right to violate anyone: not physically, not emotionally, not sexually, not socially, not economically, not politically. And under no circumstances can the violation of these rights and freedoms be legitimately considered “culture”.

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29. 

    Essid 2012-3-23

    [1] Any time a woman is forced to have sex against her will – be it by a stranger or by a boyfriend or by a husband – it is rape and it is a crime. It does not matter what clothing the woman is wearing and it does not matter if she has previously consented to sex with this boyfriend or husband. What clothing she chooses to wear is her choice and whom she decides to have sexual relations with is her choice, and the choices that she makes do not entitle anyone else to anything, and certainly not to violate her rights and to rape her. When a woman says “No” or when she shows any sign of resistance, her will must be respected. Anyone who violated this will is a rapist. There is no excuse for this behaviour. And there is no excuse to further violate the woman’s rights by forcing her to marry the rapist (or to stay married to the rapist if the rapist is her husband). Unfortunately, women have no one representing their interests and defending their rights and freedoms in Morocco, whose political and socio-political systems are dominated by men. In essence, even though women represent approximately half of the Moroccan population, they are a political and socio-political minority since they have been excluded from the political and socio-political processes. And before I continue, I would like to make clear what I mean by “political” and “socio-political”. Politics are easy to define. It is the official laws and the enforcement of those laws to govern and regulate our country. Socio-politics is somewhat more complex.

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30. 

    ماجدة عدلي - مصر 2012-3-22

    We have managed in Egypt to remove such article from the penal law in the end of the nineties. Governments should just ask what if a child who is four or five is raped? What if she is raped by a relative she can’t marry? What if there is a collective rape of a child or lady? Against whom should the charge be dropped and who shall go without punishment? Or does she have to marry seven men for example who assault her??? Before all these problematic, what about the fatal psychological stigmas for the victim of violence? What if this rape causes a pregnancy which will remain as a black memory of this shock?? There is no justice and no logic in keeping such article of law except conspiracy in crime by state institutions whose role is to protect all its citizens and deter anyone who attacks private rights and freedoms.

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31. 

    MOHAMED 2012-3-21

    The topic is very serious. Parents should know the decision of their daughter to marry the rapist.

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