Report highlights challenges faced by victims of domestic violence
Fifty-two candidates competed for the title of Miss Maghreb 2016 (the region comprising Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Libya), but in the end, Hind Sdassi, a 24-year-old Moroccan stewardess, took home the crown.
Morocco celebrated—but, if you follow a report on violence against women recently published by Human Rights Watch (HRW) researcher Rothna Begum, there isn’t much to celebrate. According to her study, Moroccan laws fail to provide officials with appropriate guidance on how to respond effectively to abuse, allowing Moroccan police, prosecutors, judges, and other authorities to fail, in turn, to prevent domestic abuse, punish abusers, or assist survivors.
A 2009-2010 survey found that 62.8% of Moroccan women aged 18 to 65 had experienced some form of physical, psychological, sexual or economic violence in their lifetimes.
The Moroccan government has established committees to raise awareness and revamped a national observatory group on violence against women. But, simultaneously, the debate on proposed laws that might increase protection for women has gone on for over three years without any sign of real change.
In addition, the bill currently winding its way through parliament lacks a clear definition of domestic violence and, claims Begum, makes it challenging for women to request emergency restraining orders without their filing for criminal prosecution, or forces them to wait until their abuser is convicted before offering basic protection.
Still, it is something. Speaking with The Media Line from Washington, DC, Ahmed Benchemsi, HRW’s director of communications and advocacy for the Middle East and North Africa, said “releasing the draft law is positive and it is what we’ve been asking for. Of course, it doesn’t address all the problems faced by abused woman, but we plan follow-up and ongoing contact with the government.”
Long influenced by France, a former occupying power, Morocco, as evidenced by the comely Hind Sdassi wearing fetching European attire while competing for Miss Maghreb, is among the most liberal Muslim societies in the Middle East. Its great cities boast a Western vibe and host numerous women’s rights organizations. Still, many women do not even have access to their own identification papers when seeking divorce or applying for custody of their children.
According to Begum’s study, the government has requested HRW withdraw from any and all research in Morocco. The government, she writes, has adopted a policy of boycotting any individual or organization critical of its actions or policies, with particular ire reserved for international investigative groups. One example: After a recent report criticizing the Moroccan government’s actions in the disputed territory of the Western Sahara, Morocco cut off ties with the European Union.
Benchemsi specifies that “they didn’t ask us to stop working on Morocco altogether, and in any event we wouldn’t accept such a request from any country. They said we are no longer welcome to conduct fieldwork from within Morocco. We announced that we regret the decision, but that we will continue to cover human rights in Morocco through other means.”
Instead of giving up, HRW has adopted a contemporary, social-media savvy approach to the problem.
In conjunction with Moroccan comedian and feminist activist Mounia Magueri, HRW created a video clip in Arabic, French and English about violence against women, where the smart and sassy star portrays a survivor of domestic violence, an abusive husband, a police officer, and a prosecutor.
So far, it has garnered over 30,000 hits and engendered the Arabic hashtag الحقاوي_عطيني_حقي# (“Hakkaoui: give me my rights”) in tweets addressed to the Minister of Solidarity, Women, Family and Social Development, Bassima Hakkaoui.
“It’s not [just] an issue of why domestic violence is bad,” Begum noted in an interview with the website www.opendemocracy.net, “but actually how the authorities are failing to address the problem.”