Morocco: Information on policies concerning violence against women

According to Country Reports 1992, the law and social practice governing violence against women reflect Morocco's Islamic culture and the importance placed on family honour (1993, 1064). While the Penal Code lays down severe punishments for offences like the rape of women or girls, many sexual assaults are not reported because of the stigma attached to them (Ibid.).

Marriage in Morocco is based on the Shari'a, and women have a right to support, food, clothing, medical care, equal treatment with other wives, control over her own property and to visit her parents (Morgan 1989, 444). A man has a right to fidelity, obedience, his wife's breast-feeding of their children, supervision of the household and respect for his relatives (Ibid.).

Divorce is legal in Morocco. There are three kinds of Muslim divorce: talaq (repudiation by the husband), khul' (repudiation by the wife), and judicial divorce, which is used exclusively by women in cases of cruelty, non-fulfilment of marital responsibilities, absence for one year, sexual inability, or if the husband contracts a disease or defect unknown to the wife before marriage (Ibid.). According to the same source, a woman could have her marriage nullified if her husband violated a prenuptial agreement to take no other wives. Nonetheless, the circumstances under which a woman may sue for divorce are more limited than they are for men (Country Reports 1992 1993, 1064).

Incest is taboo in Morocco, and there is no policy on sexual harassment (Morgan 1989, 444). Women who do not wear veils in public and those who do are sometimes subjected to verbal and physical harassment (Ibid.). The same source states that domestic workers are often subject to sexual abuse by males in the employer's household.

According to Sisterhood is Global, rape is illegal under the Penal Code of Morocco and is a "crime and offense against family order and public morality" punishable by five to ten years imprisonment (Morgan 1989, 446). If the victim is a virgin, the penalty is 10 to 20 years (Ibid.). According to the same source, battery is common in Morocco but few women have the means to seek court action. Islamic law gives the husband the right to chastise his wife if she disobeys him, including hitting her "in such a way as to cause her no harm" (Ibid.). If she remains unyielding, he is to divorce her rather than harm her. A mistreated wife may seek court intervention, but she must have physical evidence of an unbearable situation (Ibid.). The same source explains that the Penal Code is lenient to a husband who harms his wife after finding her in an adulterous situation, but a woman would not be excused of committing violence against her husband under the same circumstances (Country Reports 1992 1993, 1064).

The incidence of prostitution is rising in Morocco, although the practice is illegal. The instability of the family increases the risk of employment insecurity for women, and in some cases makes prostitution the only economic alternative (Morgan 1989, 446). The government also has no policy on traditional cultural practices (Ibid.). For instance, the high priority placed on virginity has made hymen reconstruction operations very common, but the high cost for the operation makes it inaccessible to women of modest means (Ibid.).

Additional and/or corroborative information on the requested subject could not be found among the sources currently available to the DIRB in Ottawa.

References

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1992. 1993. U.S. Department of State. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Morgan, Robin, ed. 1984. Sisterhood is Global. New York: Doubleday.

Attachments

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1992. 1993. U.S. Department of State. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Morgan, Robin, ed. 1984. Sisterhood is Global. New York: Doubleday.