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2012-07-12

Moroccan women's rights groups cry foul

By Mohamed Saadouni for Magharebia in Casablanca —12/07/12

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Moroccan activists and women's rights groups have been calling for reform of a law that allows rapists to escape conviction by marrying their victim.

Solidarity, Women and Family minister Bassima Hakkaoui last May surprised them when she reportedly said during a meeting with Justice and Development Party (PJD) legislators that "the issue of child sexual abuse has been politically exploited by associations, which have greatly harmed Morocco's image abroad".

In response to Morocco's most visible example of this, the Amina Filali case, where a 16-year-old rape victim killed herself with rat poison to escape her marriage to the man who raped her, the minister said: "marriage of underage girls must be subject for discussion… because many advanced countries allow girls to marry at the age of 14".

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Hakkaoui also lost favour among the groups after she responded to a statement from the Democratic League for Women's Rights (LDDF) about Morocco's retraction of reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). She described it as "irresponsible", "confused between outdated and preconceived ideas", and with language of "poor standard".

"When there is just one approach, it is, unfortunately, adopted… which, as ministers, we can't carry on with," Hakkaoui said, explaining that as an MP she was able to represent the people without the responsibilities she now has with the government.

On July 6th, Hakkaoui announced during a Tamkine management committee meeting that she had been working in co-operation with the United Nations and Spain on a bill that would contain the "most severe" punishment for acts of violence against women to "ensure that it will never happen again".

Women's rights organisations have lined up to express their dissatisfaction with Hakkaoui's remarks over the past months.

The LDDF demanded the government "hold the minister institutionally accountable for her provocative, negative discourse against the functions and activities of associations that protect and promote rights and contribute to democratic development".

LDDF President Fouzia Assouli accused Hakkaoui of what she described as "attempts to defame rights and women's associations… as if they were serving foreign agendas, and not concerned with the interests of country".

The group condemned the minister's statements as showing "a rigid mentality that doesn't believe in the role of civil society in democratic development", adding that the minister reflects "the close-minded trend that believes in only one voice".

"It wants associations to collude and hide violations and abuses against women's rights and human rights in general," the LDDF said.

Moroccan Women's Democratic Association chief Khadija Rabah said in a statement to Magharebia that the minister's statements "are irresponsible" and that they "harm, rather than serve, the minister's career".

"Women's associations are not an opponent to the minister who should direct her attention to issues that harm children and women because she is the one who oversees this sector, rather than blame the associations that are doing their job," she told Magharebia.

"The minister should have thanked and appreciated the work of these associations which unveil our sick reality," she added.

Bayt Al Hikma (House of Wisdom) president Khadija Rouissi condemned the government's failure to issue an explanatory statement, correction or apology for the minister's statements.

"I would like to say to the minister that the world has become a small village," Rouisi told Magharebia. "With this technological revolution and the Arab Spring, nothing can be hidden."

"What is the government's position on these issues if the minister, who is the only woman in government, is against the exposure of violations against children and women?" she wondered.

For its part, Touche Pas à Mon Enfant (Don't Touch My Child) also condemned the minister's statements and urged the government to intervene and reinstate the proper image of these associations that are working to disclose the diseases of society so as to protect women and children.

Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane on June 16th expressed frustration with Hakkaoui and other members of the ruling party, saying: "We have helped these people reach the positions they would never have attained without our help."

"We need you to stop attacks from within. I cannot evade both the bullets that I get from the outside and the ones that I get from within the party," he said.

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  1. Anonymous_thumb

    Saidi 2013-4-24

    Hello– I would like to know if you can help me because I have been divorced since August 2008 and my ex-husband and I have a villa in Morocco and he is supposed to sell it to divide it and still has not done so. He's had the title to the villa for three months and he only put himself on it. So, please, can you help me. –Sincerely

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  2. Anonymous_thumb

    moretti alfred 2013-2-6

    Here’s my case: In 2011, we asked the French consulate in Casablanca permission to get married. I was born on September 9th, 1934 and my wife was born on March 1st, 1978. We already had quite an age difference. We got married on August 4th, 2011, and since then, they’ve refused us a visa six times now because there’s too much of an age gap, which has not changed from when we asked permission to get married. So why grant us permission to get married only to refuse us the visa??? I don’t know what saint to turn to. We turned to the Nantes Court, and the judge upheld the consul’s decision. What should I do to bring my spouse here??? We have been married for 18 months. If you have a solution, I urge you to answer me. I am truly desperate. I await your response and good news. –Thank you in advance , Alfred.

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    Mohamed Feguigui 2012-9-14

    What is unfortunate is that the people don't take their time to make judgement. For a problem as serious as the daily lives of the children, girls and women in our country, they are only venturing into the considerations of the PJD, which was elected by 30-45% of the Moroccans, the Islamists from Ennahda, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the elites in power in the United States. Let us stop running distances that only move us farther from one or another solution. We have a real problem: we have a law that is unjust and that creates injustice with all its might. It needs to be deactivated, swept away, annihilated. It must be made to suffer what its victims have been made to suffer. Are there not enough men and women in our parliament to pass just laws? We need a bit more courage and will to respect the mandate received from the voters and fear of God. For that, we do not necessarily need to belong to the PJD; you only need to have a human conscience. The PJD was not the one who passed this law, the PJD can get rid of it if it truly has the will. The problem is a Moroccan one. We were always able to show our good sense beyond our border. We need a jump-start to give us back our pride. As for the only woman’s touch in our government, it is a shame, but she is more distant from women and girls than the male ministers. I would have thought that she would have had maternal instinct in her and this would have pushed her to speak differently. We need another female contender in the government in order to hear a different version of the story – one that is a bit more clement toward the victims than it is toward the guilty parties and one that makes the voices of the true Moroccan women heard.

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    sbandim 2012-7-28

    The Justice and Development Party received 30% of the votes from 45% of the electorate. That means that it only represents a minority of the Moroccan men and women. The Justice and Development Party is trying to anchor itself in power by taking measures like introducing a bill that gives impunity to military officers, aiming to make true democracy impossible in a country that represses all forms of protest and civil rights. The Justice and Development Party, is, I believe, a party that is squarely going to lose popular support if there will be elections again in Morocco. I also think that the elites in power in the United States are quite satisfied with the Justice and Development Party’s attitude as well as that of Ennahda and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, since they supported the Taliban for decades before choosing to intervene directly in the country.

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    واحد من الناس 2012-7-19

    I didn’t agree with the lady in anything. Because embracing religion means respecting all foundations. Since she introduced herself in politics and the issues of men, she breached one of the conditions of religion unless she is one of those who believe in part of the book and disbelieve in other parts. Exalted be God, I see that that (your) magazine is only tackling the issues of Islamists. You know that America is standing firmly in the face of any Islamic group. So there is no need to talk about these extremists. The whole world is preying on them like eaters prey on a dish. Not anyone who attributes himself to religion is right. There is one group which is right. It is the group which follows the Book, Sunnah, is part of the group of Muslims and doesn’t defect from it.

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    Dr Ben Kirat 2012-7-13

    This woman is the real threat to democracy in Morocco and to the rights of women which does not exist in the PJD's lexis. However, it is also a lesson to the Moroccans to taste the reality of the Islamists’ dictatorship they voted in. There is a need for an urgent amendment to the constitution to limit the time to form a government within a month and pass on the responsibility to the next party with the highest votes. This will allow parties not to enter into a forced or selfish coalition, as seen in the present government. Dr Ben Kirat

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