Port of Call LAST UPDATE November 24, 2009
site design imagesparkle.com
October 24, 2009 Casablanca, Morocco – Gender Equality in Morocco - The Slow Revolution
image

October 10 is National Day for Women in Morocco. Special postal stamps were recently introduced to commemorate the day and celebrate the contribution of women to the society.
Ten years ago, a Moroccan wife could find herself disgraced and destitute by three words, “I repudiate you”. The divorced wife would also automatically lose custody of her children. Women could not get a driver’s license or travel abroad without permission from a male relative. In most areas, Morocco’s legal system embraced universal principles of fairness and equality, but its Moudouana, or family law, failed to recognize and protect the rights of Moroccan women.

In 2004, King Mohammed VI introduced a new Moudouana that expanded the rights of women in the country and introduced greater equality of gender before the law. The reforms addressed divorce, polygamy, inheritance, legal responsibility and personal independence.

The new Moudouana promised a change in the way women were treated in marriage and society and was welcomed by women’s groups as the dawn of a new era for Morocco. Five years since the reforms were implemented, Peace Boat participants on the exchange programme with Moroccan Women were eager to see how they had affected society.
site design imagesparkle.com
image

At 30 years old, Sarah Zouher is the youngest judge in Morocco. A former member of ADFM, Ms Zouher says full gender equality remains a distant goal in Moroccan society.
Association Democratique des Femmes du Maroc, ADFM, has been championing the cause of Moroccan women since 1985. Twenty-five participants from the 67th voyage visited the organization’s center in Casablanca to learn about the experience of women in contemporary Morocco. The ADFM wasted no time making it clear that while the law had changed on paper it had not yet transformed the attitudes or behavior of Moroccan families.

For executive member Anissa Beuanane, the problem is Moroccan men. She explained that many men think the Moudouana was only changed for women so they resist it. She stressed that the law provided more protection for children and shared legal responsibility for the household between both partners. Ms Beuanane said men must accept that the Moudouana is beneficial to all members of society before it can take full effect.

Her views were echoed by Sarah Zouher, a former member of ADFM and now the youngest judge in Morocco. Ms Zouher agreed that the biggest challenge to the application of the law was the failure of the mentality surrounding family and marriage to change. She said divorcees and single mothers continue to struggle for acceptance, recognition and benefits.

When a woman becomes pregnant outside of marriage in Morocco a series of abandonments often follow – abandonment by her family and the father of her child, the abandonment of her dreams and often the abandonment of the infant at birth. It was empathy for the hopeless situation facing so many young mothers in Morocco that moved Aicha Ech-Channa to action. In 1985, she founded the Association Solidarite Feminine, ASF, to support unwed mothers through skills training, income generation, childcare and counseling.
image
Recipient of the 2000 Medal of Honor from the Kingdom of Morocco, Aicha Ech-Channa has also been nominated for the 2009 Woman of the Year Award in Italy. She says her goal is create awareness and discomfort about the plight of single mothers around the globe.
On the final day of the exchange programme, Peace Boat participants visited a Hamam, Moroccan spa, operated by the ASF. Single mothers receive training at the Hamam in hair and skin care as well as massage. At the end of their course of study, the women become tutors for new mothers entering the programme. The Hamam is one of several businesses operated by the ASF. Ms Ech-Channa said many patrons support the businesses because they believe in the goals of the association.

Almost 30 years since the establishment of the ASF, Ms Ech-Channa says the outlook for single mothers in Morocco remains challenging. She believes the introduction of sexual education in schools would help reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies but unwed mothers will remain a reality in Moroccan society. For years the response has been to brand young mothers as prostitutes and ignore them. Ms Ech-Channa says Morocco and other societies with this mindset should ask themselves the question, “What if it were me?”

She hopes that by exposing the truth about Moroccan society to the world, Moroccans themselves will become convicted of the injustice of gender inequality in the society. Ms Ech-Channa has received numerous national and international awards for her work with young mothers in Morocco. She says each recognition serves as a wake-up call to the society. Just like the ADFM, she vowed that the ASF would continue to push for a full women’s revolution in Morocco.