But divorce, marriage, and citizenship are not the only struggles facing women in Morocco.

As the world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2010, we’re asking: What do women in Morocco really need?

To those attuned to the reality of the Morocco outside the affluent spheres of Rabat and Casablanca, arranged unions and the marriage of minors are still very common in rural areas and in low and lower-middle strata of the Moroccan urban society. In fact, according to Fouzia Assouli, the head of Morocco’s Democratic League for Women’s Rights (LDDP), the rate of underage marriages in rural areas increased since the reformed Moudawana – family law – was adopted in January 2004. Najlae Lhimer, U.S. MMA champion Iman Achhal, and others are not exceptions as Mrs. Skalli would like us to believe. They are women who wanted nothing more than the right to choose. They were denied it. Mrs. Skalli’s politicized glossing over is even more shocking when one knows that long before she became a minister, when she was a neophyte pharmacist, she was a stalwart advocate of women’s rights. She still is, but not at the expense of a government-centric agenda.

The King ‘strategy was at the vanguard of women’s rights. When most Arab leaders tiptoed around the issue, Mohammed VI’s vision for Moroccan women was a tectonic movement that shook the foundation of the Moroccan society. He ordered, in April, 2001, the formation of a commission to examine the possibility of amending the antiquated Moudawana. The 1957 code was the only set of laws within the Moroccan judicial system that was solely based on sharia’. The revision of the Moudawana was strongly opposed by conservative pundits and misogynistic Islamic fundamentalists alike.

It wasn’t until October 2003, after the May terrorist attacks in Casablanca, that the King, riding the nations’ rife anti-fundamentalist antipathy, revealed the draft of a revised family law in parliament.

The new law was passed in January 2004. It provided women with greater leverage against discrimination not just in professional environments, but at home as well. For the first time, Moroccan women had the right to divorce and to child custody; new laws were enacted to prohibit sexual harassment and physical abuse. The legal age of marriage was raised from 15 to 18. Thanks to the Moudawana, Moroccan women have swept into the employment market and took jobs that were traditionally exclusively men’s. Part of the King’s anti-jihadist approach was the appointment of female religious leaders – Mourshidat. So far, the Kingdom boasts 14 female ministers within its government. The foundation for the amelioration of the female condition was set and their access to education, political influence, and economic power became unobstructed. Jennifer Windsor, executive director of The Freedom House, a human rights watchdog, stated in a recent report that “There are more women entrepreneurs, more women doctors, more women Ph.D.s, and more women in universities than ever before.” The implementation of the new Moudawana affected a host of other legal codes such as labor and nationality. Women’s liberation movements, which, during the reign of Hassan II, consisted of small groups of women meeting informally to discuss shared problems, throve in multifarious teemingness; their efforts, in conjunction with the government’s, to raise consciousness to women issues and educate a population crippled by an illiteracy rate of over 50% on the long term benefits of the new family code intensified. Finally, their steadfast resolve paid off; no longer will they stand to be abused in silent indignation, nor will their dignity be fettered.

There is a palpable feeling that Mohammed VI’s commitment to push for a broader and deeper involvement of women in the development of the country is genuine. There is also a lingering fear that the drive behind such a push is the fact that it is one of the prerequisites for Morocco’s rapprochement with the European Union and the United States. The reform has, indeed, been a major foreign policy tool. Morocco has been hailed in numerous international human rights reports as the epitome of gender equality in the Arab world.

Six years after the revised Moudawana, the revolution stands incomplete. True gender equality remains elusive. It appears now that the progressive reform was a lilliputian step toward the eradication of a pervasive, sometimes blatant, but often recondite, subjugation of women in a society still steeped in Islamic conservatism and patriarchal ethics. The enforcement of the law in homes, private businesses, and within the government itself has been butterfingered and inconsistent. Despite the draconian efforts of human and women’s rights activists, a large segment of the Moroccan population is uninformed about the underlying concepts of the reformed Moudawana, or unwilling to abide by it. Notaries public – ‘douls, in a flagrant contravention of the law, fail to advise couples of the provisions of Article 49 of the Moudawana dealing with pre-nuptial agreements.

The immediate tangible and positive impact expected from the reform failed to materialize fully. While it restricted such “Islamic” practices as polygamy, the law did not abolish it, nor did it abolish repudiation, and compensated separation (khula). When the Moudawana became effective, dispensation was put under a judge’s discretion and was to be granted in exceptional cases; today, judges, the most misogynic and gynophobic institution in Morocco, grant exemptions from the law routinely. The unfair laws on inheritance remain unchallenged and a rapist does not go to prison if he chooses to marry his victim.

The Moudawana (and the Moroccan canon in general) remains ridiculously unsophisticated when it comes to certain women issues such as abortion. According to Professor Chafik Chraïbi, the president of the Moroccan Association Against Clandestine Abortion (Association Marocaine de lutte contre l’avortement clandestin or AMLAC), over 600 abortions are conducted covertly by doctors and over 250 by individuals with no medical training. He bemoans the country’s prohibitive laws that criminalize abortion and do not account for cases, such as rape, teenage pregnancies, fetal deformities that pose a threat to the life of the mother, in which it is the only option. Female underage prostitution and sex trafficking is on the rise and will require more than just containment, but comprehensive socioeconomic solutions.

The anachronistic battle of the sexes between the moderates and the Islamic fundamentalists is still raging on. It is still an uphill fight, but gone is the time when the only achievement of a Moroccan woman was to serve her husband and raise her children; the younger generation of Morocco’s men no longer subscribe to the idea that the Moroccan woman ought to be submissive and the Moroccan women no longer buy into that regressive ideology. Much remains to be done. With her growing role, new-found freedom, higher education, and expanding economic and political power comes increased responsibility; much will be asked of Morocco’s emancipating woman and she will have to deliver. She needs to expand her horizon and seek out role models, irregardless of nationality, religion, or race, that will inspire her to be the creator of her own destiny and an indispensable contributor to the betterment of not just Morocco, but the world. But above all, she will need focused action and perseverance.

يخلدون أياما عالمية للاحتفال أو بالأحرى البكاء على واقع النساء عبر العالم ثم يجلسون هنيهة للضحك والافتخار بثورة امرأة في جبل قندهار أو وفاة سيدة في إحدى قرى المغرب من أجل الحق في الحماية من البرد … ومن ثم تبادل الأزهار والورود الحمراء بين عشاق العالم الثالث الذين ترهبهم وفي ذات الوقت تلهمهم قيم الحب والحرية المحظورة قسرا.

إن أهم ما تحتاجه المرأة بالمغرب هو أن يُحترم حقها في الوجود، وأن تدعم حريتها في الاختيار والعيش باستقلالية تامة بعيدا عن كل مظاهر الإقصاء والدونية، وليس العمل على وضع قوانين الطلاق والحضانة والجنسية ومن ثم الافتخار بأن حقوق المرأة مكفولة بموجب قوانين معينة، أو تأسيس جمعيات نسائية للدفاع عن حقوق المرأة فهذا من وجهة نظري يعزلها ولا يجعلها ندا للرجل ولك ان تجرب تأسيس جمعية للدفاع عن حقوق الرجال وانتظر كيف سيكون رد فعل النساء سلبيا، لأن مسألة حقوق المرأة هي جزء لا يتجزأ من منظومة حقوق الإنسان والدفاع عنها وحمايتها واجب مفروض على الجنسين!

من هنا نجد أن حقوق النساء بالمغرب لم ترقى بعد إلى مستوى الإيمان بالمساواة بين الجنسين رغم المكسب التشريعي الذي جاءت به (المدونة) و الذي إلى حد ما يبقى قاصرا وبحاجة إلى مراجعة، فهو يعيش تحت ضل متناقضات عدة تتمثل في كونه خليطا بين المبادئ العلمانية والقيم الدينية الإسلامية التي لا يمكن الجمع بينها، فالعلاقات الاجتماعية والعاطفية التي تربط الرجل بالمرأة تخضع بالأساس لمبادئ خاصة في التربية ذات بعد إنساني محض ينبغي على الجميع التشبع بها واستيعابها، وليس لتأويلات دينية أو تصورات جاهزة تجاه المرأة و كينونتها! لذا فكل مظاهر الإقصاء والتهميش الذي ترزح تحته نساء المغرب والعالم الإسلامي عموما هي نتاج ثقافة مجتمعية غيبية تستمد قوتها من التعاليم الدينية التقليدية، التي بدورها تشحن و تغدي العقليات الذكورية المستبدة وتربي النساء على الخنوع والخضوع والقبول بالغضب الإلهي الذي لم ينصف النساء، ناهيك عن الكثير من الأمثلة التي تعتبر المرأة علبة حافظة بمجرد فتحها تفقد صلاحيتها والمقصود هنا غشاء البكارة الذي يلازم كابوسه الفتاة منذ نعومة أظافرها الى حين ليلة دخلتها، أيضا يوجد نوع من الرجال الذين يعتبرون المكان الطبيعي للمرأة هو المنزل أو القرية وأنها حينما تخرج للشارع تكون قد انتهكت خصوصية الرجل بانتهاكها لشيئ من ممتلكاته .

كل هذا يجعل المرأة المغربية مبعدة بشكل قسري عن الحياة الحديثة، التي تبقى مجرد شعارات ومظاهر مزيفة، كون أن النساء بالمغرب لم يتخلصن بعد من قبضة النظرة المجتمعية التي تقف موقفا معاديا لكل فلسفة تنشد التطور أو التقدم بمجرد اعتبارها كفرا وضربا لقيم الدين والمجتمع

عيب الحداثة والمحسوبين عليها بالمغرب أنهم لم يستطيعوا اتخاذ موقف واضح من مجموع القيم التي تعيق تشييد صرح الحقوق والحريات، وبالتالي فالحداثة المغربية لها نكهة خاصة تمزج بين السائد من الأعراف والقيم و بين الجديد على مستوى الفكر والتصورات، ولا يمكن اعتبارها عاملا في دعم حقوق النساء بأي وجه من الأوجه بل في أفضل الحالات تبقى حداثة نخبوية مسجونة تقتصر فقط على فئات وشرائح معينة ذات إمكانات اقتصادية واجتماعية محددة.

مسألة حقوق النساء بالمغرب أمر لا يكفي معالجته قانونيا، بل هي قضية مرتبطة بمستوى الوعي الجمعي ومدى نضجه وقابليته لتقبل ثقافة المساواة بين الجنسين أكثر من ارتباطه بمجموعة مطالب وحركات احتجاجية، تُجهض أهدافها ومبادئها بوابل من الانتقادات كلما تعارضت ومبادئ الدين الأساسية. وإلا فبماذا ستبرر الحركة النسائية مطلب مساواة المرأة بالرجل في الإرث بينما القران يقول أن نصيب الذكر الواحد من الميراث هو نصيب اثنين من الإناث؟!

Was the Moudawana a progress?
In so far as it allowed for women issues and matters related to gender equality to be removed from the domain of the sacred, yes.
And there were certainly many other positives…

But what’s the context in which the Moudawana is being applied?
1 / A country where illiteracy rates exceed 5O per cent of the population, more than 70 per cent of which are women, especially in the rural areas. And when in my country we speak about illiteracy, it really means people who can not read nor write. The figures ignore those who were thrown into the streets by a failed educational system, in which case percentages would be higher.
2 / A country where poverty has reached heights unmatched in the past (so as the wealth of a few), and where women, as everybody knows, suffer the most from it.
3 / A country where religion is still at the center of every aspect of life and where public speech is still quite misogynistic (on March 8th, the International Women’s Day, a program was aired on TV, supposedly to defend women, where they ended up inviting a couple of lunatics who kept blaming all of this country’s ills on women!).

What do women need?
They need a just redistribution of wealth in this country.
They need support in their daily struggle against patriarchy in all its forms, especially that dressed in religion.
They need justice, and for that to happen they want no more impunity for those who have abused them at home, in the street, in the factory, the farm, or the office.
They need less hypocrisy.
They need democracy.

الآن و أنا انتصر -في هذه النقطة- للنظام، حيث يمكن للمرأة الآن-فعلا-أن تذهب للقاضي لتأخذ حقها من الزوج..و حيث يمكن للقاضي -في حالة لم يأخذ رشوة من الزوج- أن يحكم لها ..أتساءل عن كيفية وصول هذه المرأة للقضاء..مثلا: هل ستصل حية؟ بكدمات؟ برجل مكسورة؟..هل لي أن أتذكر-مثلا-أن هذه المدونة التي فرضها أخيرا القصر تظاهر مئات الآلاف معها و تظاهر ضدها مثلهم..السؤال هنا الذي لن تربح-في حال أجبت عنه- سيارة: إذا تعاطفت مع شخص أمي..هل ستدخله المدرسة و تظل ترعاه إلى أن يصل إلى البكالوريا أم ستمنحه البكالوريا رأسا؟..المغرب اشترى الحل الثاني

The need for an alimony fund for the protection of the family:

The new Code allows, among other things, for an acceleration of the maintenance procedure or alimony in case of divorce. This is a positive and important point, for it guaranties the divorced wife and her children the right for a decent living. But for some reason, and 6 years after the implementation of the Moudawana, the law has not yet been backed by an alimony fund that is much needed. -a body that would have helped solve many of the social problems that aroused from the real-life implementation of the new law. Morocco can learn a lot from the experiences of other Arab countries such as Egypt,Tunisia and Palestine who have already put in place a fund-based alimony system.

There’s a flip side to this reform however. The divorce rates have been soaring recently, especially among the most empoverished and vulnerable communities in the society, most probably for economic reasons. Also, in case of divorce, the law states clearly that it is the husband’s responsability to provide for the maintenance of his former wife and children, and to do so whithin 30 days or face imprisonement. After two years of divorce, and even if the husband has been spending for the household whatever money he could afford, the former wife, especially when there is a child, would still be able to sue her former husband and force him into paying nearly 30 thousand dirhams, (3000 Euros, 4000 USD). There are plenty of intricate cases like these before the courts today. Although these amounts might sound fair and reasonable, they are unaffordable in most cases given the current unstable work environment and the high rates of unemployement in this country. Even the average civil servant wouldn’t dream of affording to pay such amounts. Even the ordinary, stable and happy family wouldn’t spend that amount of money in such a short time, as is the case of most of the Moroccan population. According to Anaruz [Ar, Fr], a Moroccan national center for listening and orientation for women victims of violence, the percentage of men who fail to willingly pay their maintenance duty is as high as 57.9%.

One story has attracted my attention recently. It was aired on national radio. It’s a story of a young man suffering from diabetes, with an amputated leg, so poor that he can’t afford the price of food, let alone to pay for his Insulin, who lived on charity and yet who has been sentenced by a court to pay thousands of Dirhams to his former wife or face imprisonment. Cases like these are becoming very common unfortunately.

The Moudawana has thus created new social problems and has led to the dispersion of the Moroccan family. For this reason it has become necessary to establish an alimony fund to put an end to the problems faced by so many families, especially the most impoverished, and to ensure the rights of divorced women and their children. The Moroccan society and family are not benefiting from the perpetuation of the current system whereby men who can’t pay the maintenance duties arel led to jail. It’s a system that generates hatred, violence and domestic crimes, not to mention delinquency and its devastating effects on children’s mental health.

The absence of a law to protect women from violence:

The phenomenon of violence against women has unfortunately increased in the Moroccan society in recent years. Frightening figures show that dozens of women commit suicide every year. Out of wedlock pregnancy forces women to undergo clandestine abortions from fear of retribution, while others live with permanent disabilities due to domestic violence. The Family Code did not touch on these problems and there are plenty of legal voids in this field. Domestic violence against women doesn’t come necessarily from the husband. It can be perpetrated by the father, the brother, the relative, the employer. Also, violence is not only physical or verbal or psychological or economic, it can be sexual. Because of the ravaging effects sexual violence has on women’s psychology, it is considered rape when carried out by the husband, as recognized by the laws in many developed democracies around the world. Any sexual relationship not based on mutual consent, that is against the wishes of the wife or forced under any form of threat is rape indeed. Something Moroccan women know little about. New laws must be introduced to halt such widespread practices. Most women don’t denounce their violent husbands however or report on sexual violence either for social reasons or because they consider those practices to be their partner’s right. There are, therefore, very few reliable statistics on that matter.

According to a report [Fr] by the National Network for Listening and Legal Assistance to WomenVictims of Violence (Anaruz), published on March this year, economic and physical violence are the most prevalent (37.6% and 32.7% respectively). Sexual violence comes in third place with 10.7%, followed by judicial (sic) and psychological violence with 10.1% and 8.8% respectively. This violence occurs mainly in a marital context (87%) and at home (83.9%). The remaining forms of violence against women cataloged by the report are social (5.5%), familial (4.1%) and violence outside of wedlock (3, 4%). Violence is often chronic (84.1%) and repeated (85.9%).

The new family code was meant to ensure the stability of the Moroccan family, while guarantying equality before the law so that both genders can enjoy full citizenship. But legal loopholes, aspects of the cultural heritage and the complexity of the legal procedures have pulled back the aspirations of Moroccan society for an advanced and democratic social system. That’s why the civil society and the government, should work together and figure out new laws to help accompany the changes occurring in the society and, more importantly, to raise awareness and educate citizens. This education should start at school. It can also be implemented through the creation of training courses for workers, employees, farmers and others, and though the use of different media outlets, so that every citizen knows her/his rights and duties. Laws alone won’t change the society. We need to spread knowledge and awareness and reach those living in the countryside and the rural areas and who are unaware of the existence of a new family code, which is afflicting. Also it is important to simplify laws and make them accessible to all people. This is the role of the legislators who must examine the social impacts of laws before they enact them. And, for the sake of democracy, why not take advantage of the Web to conduct informal polls and get feedback from the people who after all should have a say on laws that concern them.

There are two major areas in which I believe Morocco needs to focus attention. These areas go hand in hand with the Moudawana reform and would drastically increase the standard of living for women in Morocco. The hurdles are financial stability and the cultural acceptance of abuse; while more and more women are continuing with secondary and university education, many may find themselves passed over for job opportunities in favor of men. Morocco’s high unemployment rate helps to foster this pattern as many feel that if there are not enough jobs for men, then why should a woman be hired? For married women who are able to secure a job, often the burdens of running a home are not lessened. In conjunction with working a full-time job, many still shoulder 100% of the household burden. If children are in the picture, childcare must also be secured either with a family member, nanny or a private facility. It’s an exhausting prospect to simply read about – it’s no surprise that women would choose not to work outside the home.

For women who choose to work solely in the home, the risk of financial insecurity is real. While not all women who work in the home have problems with finances, for those who find themselves in abusive situations the risk is multiplied. From speaking with many Moroccan women in less than optimal home situations, facing emotional or physical abuse (or both) the feeling is that they have no choice but to stay and make the best of the situation. If they do manage to leave they face repudiation by their family, their ex-husbands family as well as other community members. They fear the loss of their children to the father. They fear the shame of their families. They fear the prospect of living the rest of their lives alone. And most of all they fear having no where else to turn. Few have money of their own accessible to help them make it through the transition. In a culture that places a high value on honor, the act of divorce is often seen as a tarnish of honor.

The same sentiment that encourages women to stay in an abusive relationship is what contributes to the abuse itself. The notion of “what happens in the house is between the husband and wife,” is far too common. I have had family members tell me that if a woman were being abused and called the police the officer would laugh and hang up the phone. For a woman who has no means of financial independence, children to care for, and an abusive husband there is little recourse except to accept the abuse and try to survive.

While some of these issues, particularly the deeply ingrained cultural issues, may work themselves out with time, in the short run Morocco should be working to encourage and support financial independence for women. If they are able to care for themselves and their children the playing field in the marriage will become more even. No longer does she need to stay in the marriage simply due to economics, but will be able to make the choice that is the best for her. The Moudawana was created to improve the lives and increase the rights of women. In order to support this, Morocco must strive to bring about a complete reform that makes everyday life as important as the major milestones (birth, marriage, divorce, and death) that the Moudawana encompasses.

غياب صندوق النفقة لحماية الأسرة :

من بين النقط التي جاءت بها المدونة تسريع مسطرة النفقة في حالة الطلاق وهي نقطة ايجابية ومهمة توفر لزوجة والأبناء حقهم في العيش الكريم, لكن المشكلة التي تمخضت عن هدا القانون انه لم يفعل له صندوق نفقة ولا نعلم السبب في عدم تفعيله رغم مرور عدة سنوات على إقرار المدونة ورغم الحاجة الملحة له لان بإمكانه حل عدة مشاكل اجتماعية خاصة أن هناك دول عربية مثل مصر تونس فلسطين وغيرها تعمل بنظام صندوق النفقة ويمكن للمغرب الاستفادة من تجاربهم .

إن نسبة الطلاق تعتبر مرتفعة جدا في الوسط الاجتماعي الذي يعاني من الفقر والهشاشة وربما اغلب حالات الطلاق يكون سببها مادي وبالتالي طفت على السطح ممارسات كثيرة, القانون في باب النفقة واضح على الزوج إعطاء المال لزوجته وأبناءه في حالة الطلاق والمحكمة تعطيه اجل حوالي 30 يوم أو يسجن وهده أحكام صدرت بعدة قضايا , مثلا في مدة سنتين من الفراق وحتى لو الزوج كان ينفق مما قدره الله وهناك فراق وأرادت الزوجة رفع قضية نفقة وكان هناك طفل واحد فان الزوج عليه دفع تقريبا 30 ألف درهم أي ما يعادل 3000 أورو.

هدا شيء يمكن أن يكون منطقي وعادل جدا, لكنه بالنسبة لشخص غير مستقر في عمله أو لا يعمل أو حتى موظف بسيط فالمبلغ يعتبر ضربا من الخيال وحتى الأسرة المستقرة من أبناء وزوجة يعيشون في هناء ومحبة لا ينفق عليهم هدا المبلغ مرة واحدة لأنه مرتفع جدا بالنسبة للناس البسطاء والفقراء والدي تتكون منهم شريحة مهمة من المجتمع المغربي , وقد أثارتني قضية مرت بأمواج الإذاعة الوطنية مؤخرا لرجل شاب يعاني من مرض السكري فقد إحدى رجليه بنفس المرض لا يجد ما يأكله ولا يجد حتى ثمن إبرة الأنسولين ويعيش على صدقات المحسنين محكوم عليه بالنفقة بمبلغ مرتفع جدا يصل إلى آلاف الدراهم أو السجن, والحالات المشابهة كثيرة جدا في هدا الباب, وهدا ينتج لنا مشاكل اجتماعية أخرى وتشتت اكبر للأسرة المغربية لهدا أصبح من الضروري إنشاء” صندوق النفقة” لينهي مشكلة العديد من الأسر وخاصة المعوزة منها ويضمن حق المرأة وأبناءها, لان دخول الزوج إلى السجن لعدم قدرته على دفع النفقة, لن يفيد احد لا الأسرة ولا المجتمع وبالتالي هدا يولد مزيد من الحقد والعنف الأسري أو حتى الإجرام في بعض الحالات والتشرد الذي ترجع سلبياته بالدرجة الأولى على نفسية الأطفال, وقد وصلت نسبة امتناع الطليق عن دفع النفقة 57.9% على حسب ”مركز اناروز” .

غياب قانون لحماية المرأة من العنف :

العنف ضد النساء ظاهرة استفحلت للأسف في المجتمع المغربي توجد إحصائيات مخيفة لعشرات النساء ينتحرن سنويا بالمغرب وأخريات يجهضن و يعشن بعاهات مستديمة بسبب العنف. ومدونة الأسرة لم تتطرق لها وتكاد تكون عندنا فراغات قانونية في هدا المجال, والعنف على المرأة لا يكون بالضرورة من الزوج لأنه يمارس من طرف الأب والأخ والأقارب ورب العمل وغيره, كما أن العنف لا يكون جسدي فقط أو لفظي ونفسي واقتصادي بل هناك عنف جنسي وهدا الأخير يمكنه أن يمارس من قبل الزوج وهدا يعد اغتصابا في قوانين الكثير من الدول المتقدمة ديمقراطيا لما له من عواقب جسيمة على نفسية المرأة, لان أي علاقة جنسية لا يكون فيها الرضا المتبادل والتي تتم بممارسات شاذة ضد رغبة المرأة وتحت التهديد تعتبر اغتصابا حتى لو كانت من طرف الزوج وهدا ما لتعرفه الكثير من النساء وعليه يجب استحداث قوانين في هدا الباب للحد من هده الممارسات لأنها أصبحت منتشرة جدا ولا توجد إحصائيات دقيقة لان اغلب النساء لا يبحن بها لأسباب اجتماعية أو يعتبرنها حق طبيعي لزوج.

وعلى حسب التقرير الذي قدمته الشبكة الوطنية لمراكز الاستماع والمساعدة القانونية للنساء ضحايا العنف (أناروز) لشهر مارس/ آذار من السنة الحالية, العنف الاقتصادي والعنف الجسدي هما الغالبان (37.6% و 32.7%)، يأتي العنف الجنسي في المركز الثالث بـ 10.7%، يليه العنف القانوني والنفسي بـ 10.1% و 8.8% على التوالي. هذا العنف يحدث أساسا في إطار العلاقة الزوجية (87%)، وما تبقى من العنف يتوزع بين العنف الاجتماعي (5.5%)، والعنف العائلي (4.1%) والعنف خارج إطار الحياة الزوجية (3، 4%) والعنف يحدث غالبا ببيت الزوجية (83.9%). ويتسم هذ العنف بالديمومة (84.1%) والتكرار (85.9%).

إن مدونة الأسرة جاءت لضمان بناء أسرة مغربية مستقرة ولتساوي بين الجنسين لما يضمن لهما حقهما الإنساني والقانوني سواء الرجل أو المرأة, لكن الثغرات القانونية والحالات الاجتماعية والموروث الثقافي حين وغياب بعض المساطر القانونية و تعقيدها حينا آخر كل هده العناصر تقف حجر عثر أمام طموحات المجتمع المغربي الذي يسعى إلى السير نحو بناء منظومة اجتماعية متقدمة وديمقراطية , لهدا علينا كمجتمع مدني وحكومة مغربية كل على حسب اختصاصه التفكير بجدية في استحداث قوانين وتبسيط مساطرها لتسير والتغيير الحاصل في المجتمع والاهم أن يكون هناك وعي وإرشاد للفرد المواطن وعلى هدا أن يبدأ من التلميذ في المدرسة مرورا بخلق دورات تدريبية للعمال والموظفين والفلاحين وغيرهم وصولا إلى وسائل الإعلام باختلاف أنواعها حتى يعرف كل مواطن واجباته وحقوقه لان القوانين وحدها لن تغير المجتمع بل نحن في حاجة إلى نشر الوعي لأنه ورغم مرور حوالي خمس سنوات هناك من هم في البوادي و الأرياف يجهلون وجود مدونة جديدة لتنظيم الأسرة وهده كارثة, واهم من الوعي تبسيط القوانين لجعلها في متناول جميع أفراد الشعب وهدا دور المشرعين عليهم قبل خلق القوانين أن يدرسوا الحالات الاجتماعية دراسة مستفيضة ولما لا الاستفادة من الشبكة العنكبوتية لخلق استفتاءات غير رسمية لمعرفة آراء الشعب قبل سن القوانين, لأنها موضوعة لشعب ومن حقه الديمقراطي المشاركة وإبداء الرأي بها.

En quoi pour moi etait-ce un progrés?
Juste pour le seul fait que ce ne soit plus du domaine du sacré.
Il y a des points positifs certes…

Mais comment a-t-on accompagné cette moudawana?
1/ Dans un pays où le taux d’analphabestisation depasse les 5O pour cent, dont plus de 70 sont femmes, surtout dans le milieu rural (et quand on parle chez moi d’analphabetisme, ça veut dire ne pas savoir du tout, lire ou ecrire), les statistiques ne parlent jamais de ceux qui ont été jetés à la rue par le systeme “educatif”… Le pourecentage serait alors plus grand.
2/ Dans un pays où la pauvreté a atteint des sommets jamais egalés par le passé (la richesse aussi de certain(e)s), et ou, comme tous nous le savons, la femme est la pauvre des pauvres.
3/ Dans un pays où on sacralise encore le religieux, où les discours sont encore fort misogynes (le 8 mars on nous passe encore à la télé, dans un programme supposé defendre les femmes, des énergumènes qui mettent comme toujours sur le dos de la femme, tous les maux du pays!).

De quoi ont besoin les femmes?
D’une redistribution juste des richesses du pays;
d’une lutte au quotidien contre le patriarcat sous toutes ses formes, surtout celles habillées de religieux.
Elles ont besoin de justice, et pour ça elles ne veulent plus d’impunite pour ceux qui les ont violentées, soit chez elles ,soit dans la rue, soit dans l’usine, la ferme, le bureau.
Elles ont besoin de moins d’hypocrisie.
Elles ont besoin de democratie.

We commemorate international days in order to celebrate women across the world (or rather to mourn them), and then we just sit to laugh and brag about a woman’s revolution in a mountain in Kandahar, or count the story of a woman freezing to death in a village in Morocco… and we end up exchanging flowers and red roses with lovers from across the Third World, intimidated, but at the same time inspired by the (forcibly) forbidden values of love and freedom.

What women need most in Morocco is the respect for their right to exist, the support for their freedom of choice and for an independent lifestyle, away from all forms of exclusion and inferiority. Women need no more laws on divorce, custody, and citizenship that many hold as the sole guaranties of their rights. They need no more feminist associations to “defend” their rights, for these in my opinion do nothing but isolate women and don’t allow them to be equal to men. Can you imagine how negative women’s reaction would be if such an association were created to defend men? The issue of defending women’s rights is an integral part of the whole human rights struggle. It is a duty for both genders!

As far as women’s rights are concerned, Morocco has not yet reached the level where there is a firm belief in gender equality. Despite the legislative gain brought by the new family code (the Moudawana), the law remains somewhat limited and in need of emendation, since it contains numerous contradictions, with an irreconcilable mix between the principles of secularism and the values of Islam. Successful social and emotional interactions between men and women are essentially the result of a humanist education that people should assimilate and comprehend. They are certainly not the outcome of religious interpretations or preconceived perceptions towards women and their being! Accordingly, all the manifestations of exclusion and marginalization borne by women in Morocco and the Muslim world in general, are the product of a culture based on irrational thought and that draws its strength from traditional religious teachings. This, in turn, breeds and nurtures oppressive male mentality and attitudes, and conditions women into subservience and submission, until they accept the merciless divine wroth against them. Not to mention countless social examples where women are considered to be a treasure chest that once opened, loses any value. And I mean here of course the obsession with hymen, a nightmare that haunts girls from their earliest age until the night of their wedding. Also, some men seem to believe that the only natural place for a woman is in the house or in the village. So when they see women out in the street they feel their private sphere has been invaded.

Because of these attitudes, Moroccan women are generally forced away from modern life, and modernity often seems symbolic and false to them. Women in Morocco are trapped in a social vision that vehemently opposes any philosophy that seeks development or progress, and that is considered blasphemous or threatening to local religious and social values.

The problem with the progressive movement in Morocco is that it failed to take a clear position on all the issues that impede the march toward more rights and freedoms. The result is a form of modernity with a special local flavor: it amalgamates the prevailing norms and values with novel thoughts and visions. And this can not, in any way, be considered a helping factor in support of women’s rights. It is at best a form of modernity that is constrained and limited to an elite class that already enjoys certain economic and social powers.

The issue of women’s rights in Morocco can not be addressed exclusively legally. It is intimately linked to the social level of consciousness, maturity and ability to accept the gender equality culture, over the current set of demands and principles that block everything deemed against the fundamental principles of religion. Otherwise I don’t see how a woman who claims equality with men would ever face the fact that in inheritance law for example, and according to the Koran, a woman is worth half that of a man?!

Morocco may call itself a secular society, but the monarch is a Muslim, Muslim holidays are the only religious holiday for which all sectors of business and government shut down, and 99% of the population is classified as Muslim.  So, while it may be secular by name, for all intents and purposes it is a Muslim country.

Indeed, Morocco is a fairly progressive country when it comes to women’s rights.  Women have the right to obtain free education, work in many professional fields, hold government office, drive a car, and generally move freely about society.  However, even with all these opportunities and freedoms, there is still much progress to be made.

And so, the reason the need for a code made an impression on me is because these are rights women have been given to women by Allah over 1400 years ago.  And while they may have been restricted before the time of King Mohammed VI, the code is an opportunity to fully include the rights for women indicated by Islamic law.  Any Muslim who disagrees with any of the rights granted in Moudawana is either ignorant to or purposely going against the teachings Islam and commandments of the Quran.  Presumably, any other opponents are non-Muslims who don’t believe in women having particular rights.

After having read through the code for the purpose of this article, I felt good about the ways in which it secures the rights of women as binding law.  Thus, I feel that what women in Morocco need goes beyond Moudawana.  It stretches far beyond the major cities where upon first glance an outsider might think women have it good in Morocco.

Education for girls, especially in rural and remote areas, is still severely lacking.  Good access to education and some type of enforcement that they attend is needed so that they will learn what there God-given rights are, and will know how and when to demand them.

Girls are often held back from attending school to help with household tasks, and many people in these areas believe that women were created for the sole purpose of taking care of the home.  Unfortunately, culture and tradition born of ignorance have created a barrier that continues to keep girls from going to school.

However, Islam encourages education for both men and women regardless of what their eventual role in society might be.  With education, girls will know that they can break the norm and change their future.  They don’t have to fit into the mold of what cultural ignorance has lined up for them.

The problem is not just that families keep their daughters for attending school.  Access to schools in these areas is an issue as well.  In many of the more remote villages not only aren’t there enough schools, but they are often too far away for many children to attend.  The first focus has to come with providing better access to education including buildings, learning materials, and a way to ensure that all children attend.

When these needs are met, girls will have the access to education that will not only teach them their rights, but that they do not have to be boxed in by cultural norms that don’t value them in the way that Islam requires they be valued.  In time, they will teach others, and the idea that Moudawana provides too many rights for women will dissipate.

I am actually trying to prove that Moroccan women had a unique chance to emancipate themselves after 1956, because of the revolutionary-flavoured changes that Moroccan society was longing for. I am not conjecturing or exaggerating, nor idealizing the ‘golden age’ of feminist struggle for liberty and equality. As far as I am concerned, women’s rights in Morocco are closely tied to the global human rights situation in Morocco. It isn’t obvious nor naturally correlated, as various examples can prove it.

Even though Royal Princess Aisha couldn’t reasonably be considered as a representative individual of the Moroccan feminine subpopulation, her emancipation is an astounding example of how Moroccan society was about to change in the post-independence years, indeed: “Militant Feminist Lalla Aisha of Morocco made her first public speech in the cause of female emancipation at the age of 17. She urged the veiled and backward women of her land ‘to participate ardently and usefully in the life of the nation.’ The speech automatically earned her the leadership of the Moroccan feminist movement for she was a princess, the daughter of King Mohammed V.” It was essential (for the monarchy and the Nationalist movement alike) to mobilize all of the Moroccan people (including their female half) to oust the French protectorate. Although Allal Fassi and Mehdi Benbarka didn’t share the same views on the Women issue, they both called for a renewal of the Moroccan society.

Anyway, 1956 brought independence, and with it a gigantic misunderstanding that sealed the present situation in Morocco, women and politics alike.

To put it simply, the misunderstanding was above all about distribution of power: the monarchy wanted to recover its supremacy (and to its delightful surprise, found itself geared with powers it didn’t even dream of before 1912) while the national movement wanted in its broad gathering, a bigger share of power, and more balanced institutions prerogatives.

The second misunderstanding was about women’s rights: the conservative wing (old-guard Istiqlal and, to some extent, the monarchy itself) did want women to be emancipated, but only to move from the pre-Islamic, superstitious state (not always submissive, one should point out) to a brand new age, where women have the place Islam devoted to them (traditional salafists like A. Fassi advocated this) i.e. at home, as a mother and a housewife.

Moroccan women, on the other hand, fielded a quite heterogeneous range of aspiration, too heterogeneous perhaps, to enumerate and even more difficult to merge in broad categories.

Let’s roll back to the women’s rights issue: The popular myth following which women were always happy to be housewives and child-bearers is/was set up by some people with a precise political agenda to follow, and not the ‘natural’ way to go.

Strangely enough, one could find an almost-perfect parallel with the slow political Islamization of Moroccan society an the degradation of women’s rights. While the early decades following independence were relatively liberal for women, from the late 70’s all the way down to the present days, the general set of values most Moroccans hail as theirs brought the Moroccan society to conservatism (and indeed, a reaction) that might reminds of a darker age.

I cannot help but link the whole social structure to its economic roots, so my main working hypothesis is that gender equilibrium radically changed when women were allowed (by law that is) to attend schools and quite naturally –albeit with adamant conservative opposition- to get in the job market.

Their direct contribution to the economic factory makes them more visible and subsequently, allow them to voice their hopes and claims (there are of course, other ways to explain the changes in the Moroccan women issues, but I shall devote the following lines to discuss this specific topic).

From 1956 to the mid 1970’s, Women in Morocco were indeed enjoying a broader liberty than what the piece of legislation passed on as the Moudouwana allowed for. There was a considerable thrust (as well as a certain political will within the royal palace) for change and removal of old-fashioned institutions, especially for the youthful Moroccans.

In facts, the early Moudouwana version was quite liberal (with respect to the constraints that represented traditional Islamic scholars). Never mind the legislative corpus though. Education was in facts, a pretext for a whole generation to free themselves from the patriarchal leadership; an educated young woman usually found herself compelled to work (with some delight, one can reasonably assume). It did start with the left-leaning government under A. Ibrahim, when the core structures of the Education ministry were laid on.

Anyway, his government, through the various reforms they undertook (and were unfortunately prevented from reaching maturity), opened the doors to a generation of young women the opportunity to go to school and get out of the housewife-scheme.

‘Liberty through jobs, jobs through education’ could indeed be a motto Beauvoir would gladly shield and voice.

Even though only a (relatively) small minority of young girls and women was allowed to go to schools (the huge majority of which were located in urban areas), the impact of education was effectively tremendous. One has only to look at the demographic shape of the civil service to understand how crucial education and outside work were for advancing women’s rights.

According to Dinia Mouddani, 31% of Moroccan civil servants are women (2002), while they represented 13.28% in 1970. A modest growth indeed with respect to the chronological framework, though one has to point out that in broad terms, the civil service has more women than any other productive sector (save for the domestic sector). There were many papers on why women are more successful (to some extent) in the public sector, but that is not the point.

It shows that Moroccan women advanced their cause by working outside, thus effectively contributing (though I am not minimizing the vital tasks housewives and part-time working women perform) to the national factory.

The 1970’s and 1980’s where a major shift in the global trend the Moroccan society was following: various studies and projections predicted a steady yet stable trend of secularization, due to economic and social changes: financial independence granted social freedom as well as an authoritative say in the household decisions (I must confess my lack of knowledge and, I couldn’t find any substantial paper related to the subject).

The situation was indeed going well, partly because of the good economic growth Morocco enjoyed during the 60’s all the way up to the mid-70’s (it is worth reminding that the average real growth of GDP was around 9%, in real terms over the period)

Alongside were a cultural and a social thrust for change (the radical left for instance, brought hope among the Moroccan students). Then, not out of the blue, a political project combined with dire economic conjecture brought an agonizing end to the aspiring women rights.

I believe 1979 was the turning tide for the women rights in Morocco. Indeed, it did saw the foundation of the AMDH, but also the beginning of a formidable gambling in Morocco (and elsewhere in the MENA region, to that matter) where vested interests had been drawing patiently the Moroccan society into a state of conservatism. I am not saying that the Moroccan common man was naturally liberal or progressive, it’s just that a general trend of secularism and socially tolerant was drawn up from within the Moroccan society, and then quietly put down by some political lobbies.

Moroccan women make up for 30% of the workforce (the same proportion holds for the economy as well as the civil service) but do contribute for more than half of the GDP (household production included).

Even though the likely trend is a further insertion in labor market, the general conservatism Moroccans seem to show is more due to the tightening economic conditions (an average growth of 3-4% in real terms over the last decade) than to any sign of genuine social intolerance.

The changes in the Moudouwana are meaningless with respect to the general mood of the Moroccan society. Yes, it did advance the women’s cause, but it failed (in broad terms) to address the one issue it was meant for: to change mentalities. According to the now-famously censored TelQuel-Le Monde poll, 64% of the selected sample assessed negatively the outcomes of the new Moudouwana. On the other hand, a leading NGO women rights noticed a 10% increase in the derogatory marriages in 2008 (while they where supposed to be exceptions)… These figures show a restrain (well, not quite so, but it looks like it) in viciously conservative and actual reactionary frustrations the Moroccan society shows. Not that everyone is committed to or ideologically convinced of a ‘Marocistan’, but the economic structure doesn’t help either.

All in all, my point is: a balanced economic growth might lead to a patient shift in the way women’s roles are perceived within the society and confirm the natural right for women to be recognized and treated as equals to their male counterparts.

How do we achieve a balanced growth? Well, that’s the challenge, isn’t?

While I admit that the system really allows women to seek their rights from their husbands before a judge (unless the judge has been bribed by the husband of course), and that the judge really can arbitrate in her favor, I also wonder how will this very woman reach this very judge: Will she reach the court alive? -wounded? -with a broken leg? … Let me just remember that this Moudawana, imposed by the palace, prompted hundreds of thousands of supporters to march for it, and an equal number of opponents to march against it. And the (non) million-dollar question here is: Which solution would you choose to show empathy for an illiterate? Would you get him/her into school and keep looking after him/her until he/she gets a degree or, would you give him/her the degree outright? … Morocco chose the second option.