Counselling centres help abused Moroccan women break their silence

24/11/2006

The issue of domestic violence is a growing concern in Morocco. Counselling centres have been set up to allow women to break their silence on the issue and receive help. The facilities are opposed by people who think men have their right to abuse their wives or feel the sites incite women to rise against their husbands and tear apart families.

By Imane Balhaj for Magharebia in Casablanca – 23/11/06

[Getty Images] A victim of domestic violence poses with a placard reading "No to violence against women".

Counseling centres exist throughout Morocco to help women affected by the global problem of domestic violence. The centres were established to provide legal, psychological and social support.

Fatima, a 32-year-old recounted three years of suffering as she waited her turn during her first trip to a counselling centre in Casablanca.

While she married for love and dreamed of a peaceful home and pleasant life, she revealed, "My husband beats me."

Her husband Mustafa started the abuse by slapping her cheek once. He followed with apologies, a gift and promises it would never happen again. While she originally thought it was a one-time mistake, Fatima recounts that he turned into a beast after repeated arguments over trivial issues.

"I started spending my nights terrified ... Blue bruises covered my body, which I concealed from my family, who didn't accept this marriage to begin with. That was sufficient justification for my husband to take revenge through 'disciplining me', affirming to them that I'm worthless," she stated.

Fatima decided to seek help at a counselling centre after the abuse went further and bruises on her face were visible to neighbours and colleagues.

[Getty Images] An operator listens to victims of violence.

Rashida recounted that her husband would get drunk before coming home early in the morning and wake up everyone in the house.

"He demands that I prepare food or have sex and he wakes up his two children to ask about their homework. Any resistance results in a fight, ending only with intervention by the neighbours, who rescue the children from his hands and leave me with him. I can no longer bear it. I know coming here [the listening centre] might bring me more misfortune, but I don't care. I just want to protect my children," she says.

Zeinab, a teacher, was not protected by domestic abuse by her education and social status. She had not heard of the counselling centres until recently.

"My father wronged me when he said marriage is protection … and I was raised to believe patience and obedience to the husband are commendable. Each time, I returned home broken-hearted, afraid of what people and society would say. Then I learned of thousands of women who are destroyed because of common laws, which are no longer in existence, except in the patriarchal mentality, which render women servants and a people whom men can unload all his anxiety on," she said.

Saida, another victim, states, "I fled home after he threatened to kill me one evening. He beat me thoroughly and tied me to the bed with ropes. This happened because I could not bring home enough cash to buy keif (cannabis), as my work as a domestic servant provides only enough for our daily food. I screamed, despite his threats against doing so. One of the neighbours heard me and helped me flee ... This time, after seeing my injuries, my family understood."

She adds, "I won't rest until he goes to prison and pays the price for torturing me ... When he gets out, he'll never find me. I won't give him the chance to take revenge."

[Getty Images] An unidentified Moroccan victim talks with a counsellor.

Fatima Akouri, an activist and member of the Casablanca-based Listening and Legal Guidance Centre of the Moroccan Association for Combating Violence against Women, attributes the growing designation of domestic violence as a problem to women's increased awareness of their rights, as well as to a national awareness campaign, and the Family Code.

"Violence against women comprises anything that might harm women. It affects families and society as a whole. It circumscribes women's dignity and freedom … Abuse takes many forms: material, emotional, physical, sexual, economic, social, legal, and political. It must be combated at all levels. It is a disaster that entrenches discrimination against women... Women become second-class citizens and violence is considered legitimate, she explained.

The Secretariat of State for Family organises a national campaign to combat violence against women every year.

"Male critics say the campaign contribute to making women insolent. If a woman deserves it, her husband can discipline her, they say. Violence, according to this outdated mentality, is a legal and religious right they associate with obedience to the husband and the duty of submission. Religion and religious law are devoid of all that. University students and female teachers … still suffer from men's dominance and the perpetration of violence against them without regard for their character or social standing as educated women," Akouri indicated.

Morocco is home to about 50 counselling centres, which receive approximately 40 cases per day. The number has multiplied since the first centre was established in 1995.

While an important role of the centres is exposing what is often kept silent, many women still suffer silently inside the walls of the home. Akouri says she once encountered a case of a woman whose husband detained her for eight hours in a dark room after beating her nearly unconscious. Her family managed to rescue her by chance.

While some critics say the centres break apart families and incite women against their husbands, Akouri counters, "When we help women realise their rights and defend themselves legally or teach them to avoid violence, that doesn't mean we want to destroy their home ... The centre's role is to make them aware of their value. We don't incite women against their husbands. In fact, the counsellors don't issue any value judgement against the perpetrator and the women with the grievance decide whether or not to prosecute."

Akouri called on the state to launch year-round awareness campaigns to expose domestic violence and "send the message to these women so they feel there are safeguards to protect them if they talk".

She said women need to know that there are listening centres open every day and that there’s a hotline which anyone can call to report a case of hostility against a woman, even if the perpetrator is the husband.

"It’s unreasonable for citizens to continue holding back from intervening in any scuffle in the street. Every time a man justifies attacking a woman by saying she’s his wife, people act as if this is a right and it’s thus not necessary to intervene in their private life," she added.

Note: The abused women in this report are not identified by their actual names, honouring their request and the request by the officials at the Casablanca counselling centre to maintain confidentiality.