New report discusses child abuse in Morocco

2007-07-05

Moroccan organisation COCASSE has released a report on child abuse in the country including its current state, causes and potential solutions. The group criticises the Moroccan government as being too lax in prosecuting sexual crimes, and calls on legislators to stiffen mandatory sentences.

By Imane Belhaj for Magharebia in Casablanca – 05/07/2007

[Imane Belhaj] Members of the COCASSE coalition

Child abuse has increased 50% over the last year in Morocco, according to a recent report by the Coalition against Sexual Abuse of Children (COCASSE). The report concludes that approximately 80% of child abuse cases involve sexual exploitation, and 75% of the perpetrators have a familial relationship with their victims. Most victims of sexual exploitation are children under age 10.

Khaled Cherkaoui Semmouni, Co-ordinator of COCASSE and President of the Moroccan Centre for Human Rights, said in a statement to Magharebia that COCASSE, an alliance of more than 40 Moroccan and foreign associations, works to examine root causes of abuse and advocates legal reform to punish crimes of abuse more harshly, in accordance with international norms.

Semmouni said the report contains anecdotal figures. "We relied on the complaints we received, what is published in the press and what is presented to the courts – in an attempt to assess the gravity of the phenomenon, to search for means of curtailing its danger to our children, and to direct our recommendations to the government and parliament primarily."

In its report, COCASSE also criticizes the way victims are treated during trials, causing children further trauma and psychological distress. The Coalition recommends a psychologist be present during trial.

The report explores the origins of sexual exploitation. Most stem from blatant violations of children’s socio-economic rights—the right to a respectable standard of living, the right to education, the right not to work, the right to play— but also from a lack of sexual education and awareness at schools. Poverty appears to be the decisive factor pushing children into prostitution alongside factors such as the break-up of the family unit, mistreatment within the family and the absence of a national action plan delineating a strategy for preventing violence against youth.

Despite the efforts of human rights and child advocacy organisations, Morocco still suffers from judicial inefficiencies that allow sexual criminals to evade punishment. Groups like COCASSE push the government to intensify the legal pursuit and punishment of perpetrators of rape and molestation, and call for adherence to Morocco's Penal Law, especially section 485, which mandates a punishment of 10 to 20 years imprisonment, with child rapists receiving no less than 12 years.

In reaction to media criticism, Moroccan authorities have begun efforts against sex tourism with a series of arrests in Agadir, Marrakesh and Casablanca. Moroccan authorities also detained a number of foreign tourists implicated in child molestation and pornography cases.

Nevertheless, Semmouni condemned the judiciary's shortcomings in pursuing perpetrators. "We find the punishment for raping a child does not exceed five years, whatever the act or gender of the attacker."

The report presents several examples of child sexual abuse cases, such as the case of a French man detained in Marrakesh who was arrested with 17,000 photos and 140,000 video recordings on his personal computer that he was sending to pornographic sites. In this case, the report claims, "the appellate court reduced the sentence from four years imprisonment to two years, and then he earned amnesty, enabling him, after one year, to leave."

The COCASSE Co-ordinator said national laws governing children’s rights need further reform to bring them in line with international human rights standards. "Stipulation of this crime against children remains ambiguous in Moroccan laws, which lack clear terms, such as ‘sexual harassment’ or ‘sexual assault’ at a time when we find only the terms ‘rape’, or ‘disgrace’ applied to a girl or woman," Semmouni told Magharebia.

"The problem requires a realistic approach on which educational institutions rely to protect against all forms of violence, whether physical or sexual, within the school arena," said Latifa Fayad, President of the Oubour Association for Moroccan Residents Abroad, emphasising the necessity of providing legal, social, and psychological aid to victims of sexual abuse, given the dangerous psychological effects these crimes have on victims.