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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE January 18, 2007
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| September 13, 2006 |
Casablanca, Morocco – Solidarite Femnine |
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| The Solidarite Feminine building in Casablanca |
Solidarite Feminine, was dismissed by wider society as taboo when it started to help single mothers in Morocco twenty years ago. Founded by two female counselors who worked in hospitals that catered to pregnant mothers, they aimed to counter the widespread ostracism that young mothers were facing when their partners suddenly disappeared and they were forced to face their pregnancy and the birth of their child alone. Solidarite Feminine provided a safe space with counseling, legal aid, and skills training programs. |
site design imagesparkle.com |
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| Founding member Laila Mejdeuli |
Today in Morocco the problem continues and babies are still found abandoned by their mothers. Single mothers are still hunted and sometimes killed by their families or partners, after which the law protects the “honor crime” and can send the mother to jail as a prostitute, although this law has not been enforced since the 90s. Solidarite Feminine continues to work tirelessly to educate society about gender issues and to help single mothers through their difficult and often life-threatening struggle.
The Solidarite Feminine compound that the 54th Peace Boat Voyage participants visited houses a number of facilities where single mothers can receive skills training so that they may easily find work once they are ready to become independent. The women receive free training in the hamam (public bath), beauty salon, nursery, or at the reception desks by professionals who are also practiced counselors. |
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| Peace Boat participants present the history of the women’s movement in Japan |
Participants in the tour had the opportunity to take an oriental dance class (aka belly dancing), and were treated to a full body massage and scrub in the hamam, after which there was an information session where members of Solidarite Feminine presented information about the development of the women’s movement in Morocco and about the organization’s activities, and Japanese PB participants shared information that they had prepared about the women’s movement in Japan.
You can visit Solidarite Feminine’s website at www.lamarocaine.com/solidaritefeminine |
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