NGOs push for Moroccan law protecting women from violence

05/12/2007

To call for a law prohibiting violence against women, international group Global Rights has partnered with ten Moroccan NGOs for a two-week national campaign.

By Imane Belhaj for Magharebia in Casablanca – 05/12/07

[Imane Belhaj] Global Rights will compile a series of drawings of Moroccan women's suggestions to fight violence.

To promote laws protecting women from violence, the Morocco office of international organisation Global Rights will conduct a national enlightenment campaign until December 10th. The human rights NGO, based in New York, has been working to defend women's rights around the world for 29 years.

Ten Moroccan NGOs began holding meetings with women November 25th to obtain their views, priorities and suggestions concerning a law prohibiting violence against women. The organisations, which put forth their own proposal for what such a law should encompass, will produce drawings representing the suggestions of Moroccan women.

Global Rights will compile these drawings in a poster to be widely distributed across Morocco. The "Advocate a Law to Fight Violence against Women" poster will be adopted as a mechanism for NGOs to enlighten citizens. The groups will also advocate the proposed law through public conferences and meetings with local officials.

"It has become necessary to give women the chance to make their voices heard, so that any legislation whatsoever may respond to their true state of affairs and actual needs," said women's rights advocate Meryem Zemmouri. This campaign, she said, "will try to identify the views and expectations of the greatest possible number of women".

Halima Oulami, who believes that "violence against women is a violation of human rights," explained that the campaign "will be about household violence". She added, "We will set up a 3-day educative and advisory tent in the Sidi Yusef Ben Ali quarter in Marrakech to speak with women about the phenomenon. We will rely on international mechanisms for communication and enlightenment."

In preparation for the current campaign, Morocco's Global Rights team organised a primary workshop for local NGOs in late September. Female activists from Morocco, the United States, Eastern Europe and India met in Fez to exchange strategies on stopping violence against women and discuss impediments to legislation.

Cheryl Thomas, a US human rights activist attending the workshop, said that any legislation must be strict in terms of intolerance of violence against women, provide protection to the victim and children, and also hold the perpetrator responsible for his acts.

Ahmed Arehmouch, a lawyer and activist who helped organise the workshop, explained that the need to incriminate perpetrators of violence against women stems from flaws in Moroccan law.

"Criminal law, for example, identifies only physical violence that causes injuries." The law, he said, "overlooks psychological and sexual violence, violence between spouses or household violence [and] holds women accountable when leaving the marital home, even as a result of husband's violence."

Arehmouch believes that any new law should address a definition covering all aspects of violence against women and specify deterrent penalties.

Organisations involved in this project include: Amal Association for Women and Development (Hajib), Amane Association for Women Development (Marrakech), Touaza Association for Defending Women (Tetouan), Association for Initiative Activation (Taza), Tafokt Sous Association for Women Development (Agadir), Amazighi Network for Citizenship - Women Committee (Rabat), Association for Young Lawyers at Khemisset (Khemisset), Bades Association for Social and Economical Activation (Hseima), Taffilalt Oasis Space for Development (Risani) and Wadi Deraa Development Association (Zakoura).