Domestic Violence in Morocco1

Domestic Violence in Morocco1

Domestic Violence in Morocco

Travis Graff

Social Work 7400 – Domestic Violence

University of Missouri-Columbia

Domestic Violence in Morocco

The Kingdom of Morocco was the first country in the world to recognize the United States of America as a sovereign nation. After the recognition, The United States and Morocco signed a treaty in 1783, renegotiated in 1836, making it the longest unbroken treaty in the history of the United States. The kingdom also holds the only building on foreign soil that is on the US National Register of Historic Places. (Embassy of Morocco)

While the United States is now around ten times larger in population when compared to Morocco, the two nations have roughly the same birth rates, death rates, and life expectancy. In the United States 81 percent of men and 88 percent of women are expected to reach the age of 65, compared with Morocco, 80 percent of men and 84 percent of women are expected to reach the age of 65. However, Morocco's infant mortality (23.7 per 1000 live births) is over four times the amount of the US (5.6 per 1000 live births). The similarities in life expectancy at birth are likely offset by the United States' higher rates of adult obesity and intentional homicide. (findthedata) The higher rates of infant mortality in Morocco can be attributed to low level of access to adequate healthcare and highly restrictive reproductive law and sexual rights for women until 2015. (Feki, 2015)

In Morocco, domestic violence is most common violent crime that women face. (BoughimaBenyaich, 2012) The violence isn't confined to physical, many women face psychological, financial, emotional, and sexual violence. Women and girls have even been subject to forced marriages,sometimes to a man that has raped them, (Amnesty International) and honor killings for expressing sexuality outside societal norms or being the victim of rape. (KulczyckiWindle, 2011) Both the acts of forced marriage and honor killings are meant to be protective of the kingdom's patriarchal society. Forced marriages allowed men to get out of a rape charge due to Morocco not having marital rape laws. Honor killings, dominantly carried out by men, have been used to secure the family's honor and position in the society.

The statistics of intimate partner violence are not exclusive to Morocco. In the United States, over 30 percent of women face IPV at some point in their lives which again includes physical, emotional, and sexual violence. Nine percent of women have been raped by intimate partner at some point in their lives. (2010)

However, the unique challenge of social change Morocco faces comes from the nation's legal system. The kingdom has Sharia or Islamic law, co-existing with modern law. With this 'legislative pluralism', family and personal code is governed by Sharia, and penal and labor codes are governed by modern law. The co-existence has created gaps for legal protection for women. (Olayanju, Naguib, Nguyen, Bali, & Vung, 2013)

Statistics of Morocco

The United States and Morocco face different types of violence again women. However, in both countries, the statistics show an endemic issue to each nation. The United States sees violence against women on college campuses, at home, and at work while Morocco has violence against women through honor killings and forced marriages. The United States has better record keeping of intimate partner violence against men which have around 1 in four 4 men experiencing IPV in their lives. (2010) No reliable statistics could be found for men who experience IPV in Morocco.

Morocco is home to 34 million people. The median age is 28, 27 percent of population is under 14 and 6 percent is above 65. There are .97 males to every female. 39 percent of population lives in rural communities. The birth rate is 20 per 1000 people. Intentional Homicide is 1 for every 100,000. 57 percent of population uses the internet. (findthedata)

The country has a value of .525 on the United Nations’ gender equality index, giving it the rank of 117thcounty in 2014. There are 35 births for every 1000 women between 15 and 19. 11 percent of parliament is held by women. 20 percent of women above the age of 25 have had some secondary education. 26 percent of females above 15 are in the work force. In 2004, 11 percent of women between 15 and 19 had been married at least once. (United Nations Statistics Division)

The legal age for marriage in both the United States and Morocco is 18 without parental consent. Morocco has no legal age of parental consent of marriage while in the United States, girls are allowed to be married at 13 with parental consent and boys are allowed at 14 with parental consent. (United Nations Statistics Division)

In regards to maternity leave, the United States protects a parent’s employment for up to 12 weeks after a child is born or adopted. Wage coverage for the leave is not guaranteed within the United States. In Morocco, parents can get 14 weeks of 100 percent wages after a child is born or adopted paid by the nation’s social security system. (United Nations Statistics Division)

Honor Killings

A social system has been in place in the region of the as honor killings. Honor killings are performed by a family of a female that has disgraced the honor of the family, the homicide is committed to continue the preservation of the family's honor. (KulczyckiWindle, 2011) The killings occur when there is a "perceived misuse of female sexuality" the offenses include "marital infidelity and premarital sex...contacting persons of different faiths, initiating, separation or divorce, being a victim of rape, and even such alleged misdemeanors as flirting, or other impugning the family honor." (KulczyckiWindle, 2011)

The females who are affected by this system in these nations are not exclusively one age, or social class. The data show that half of all victims are under the age of twenty-five. Women who are targeted come from families at all levels of the social ladder. Families with lower socioeconomic statuses may feel all they have is honor, and those in high statuses feel they have a lot more to lose if the family is seen as dishonorable. There is not enough data to show how many men make up victims of honor killings. (KulczyckiWindle, 2011)

The issue becomes a matter of domestic violence because most killings are carried out by a close relative. In all nations in MENA in the study, male family members were the most likely to carry out the crime. It was most likely to be the brother of the victim. In order after the brother; fathers, husbands, other male relative, other female relative and mother were all listed as possibilities to commit the honor killing. (KulczyckiWindle, 2011) This shows that if a female has one of the offenses listed earlier, even if she is raped, she will likely not feel safe in her home, or with her own family. This gives extreme control to men in any household to control the women of their families.

In comparing what men are capable of doing with honor killings and the Power and Control wheel of violence it can be seen how men are able to continue this level of control in the region. Women who are flirting, or perceived as flirting, with someone that should not be flirting with could be intimidated and coerced to stop. Women who have had a more serious offense in the eyes of their society may feel isolated due to the fear of what telling anyone could cause. Females who are raped would not only feel this same isolation, but would likely be blamed for the crime that was committed against them. (Lockhart & Danis, 32)

What’s more, the honor killings are difficult to track and study due to the level of cover up around them in families and communities. Kulczycki and Windle stated that "Victims are often buried in unmarked graves, records of their existence may be eradicated, and perpetrators go unpunished or receive token sentences." (KulczyckiWindle, 2011) This will cause data to be likely unreliable, and show the number of victims to be less than what it actually is.

Women in Morocco need advocates that don’t see only the deficits of the women that are victims to the honor killings, but who can see the conditions that lead to these killings. As Ellen Pence stated, it is the advocates responsibility to “make the institution deal with reality.” (Pence, 2011) This means that an advocate would need to work with law enforcement on developing ways that honor killings need to be correctly reported instead of being labeled as an ‘accidental death.’

Forced Marriage

In a study of 125 Moroccan women, it was found that were basic themes that affected a woman or girl entering into a forced marriage. These included financial dependence, customs and social norms, insufficient legal protection, roles of organizations, and the effects of forced marriage on the decision-making power in a relationship. (Sabbe, et al., 2014) The study by A. Sabbeet alwas created to find the impacts that this was still having on women.

Many of the women had feelings of being financial burdens to their fathers. They stated that their fathers believed it was a waste of time and money to provide education for their daughter since it would benefit only the woman's future husband. Girls would be married off as soon as possible to "be cut out of the family budget." (Sabbe, et al., 2014) This made it hard for women to get better employment, and when they entered the marriage without a job they had no bargaining power. They would rely on their husband for everything. (Sabbe, et al., 2014)

Social norms sustain the issue since any woman who reaches a certain age without being married is not seen as desirable. Women feel the pressure to be wed early, because of this norm. Even when a man wants to marry a woman later, he is encouraged by friends not to do so, because he deserves someone younger. The women also felt the laws at the time were not strict enough to prevent the forced marriage, and any organization that tried to help would be undermined by the father's authority within his home. (Sabbe, et al., 2014)

Compared with women who freely choose their spouses, women who were forced made statements that showed that had little decision making power. Some of these included "My partner tells me who I can spend my time with," "My partner won't let me wear certain things," and "I have sex if my partner wants me to, even if I don't want to." (Sabbe, et al., 2014)

Forced marriage has provided an institutionalized haven for rapists to get away with their crimes. Until 2013, the Moudawanaallowed "a rapist to escape prosecution by marrying their victim." (Amnesty International) After examining the effects and themes of forced marriage we can understand why this law was in effect for long. A woman who is raped is no longer desirable, and will be subject to a life as a societal outcast, or they would receive the honor killing as discussed before. A family allowing their daughter to be wed to her rapist reduces the family burden of needing to support the woman for the rest of her life, and allowing the family to have honor without taking the woman or girl's life.

Advocacy

Morocco has made large strides in working towards reducing violence and domestic violence against women in the last two decades. The kingdom has enacted many amendments to the Moudawanasince 2003 that have criminalized many acts of violence against women. (Olayanju, Naguib, Nguyen, Bali, & Vung, 2013)

Most of the chance began in 1992 when Moroccan feminist groups began to campaign for the reform of the Moudawanawhich had offered little protection for women under Sharia. The group Union de l'Action Feminine (UAF, Union for Women's Action) fought to have the laws remove or changes statutes of forced marriage, polygamy, and the principle of obedience, while establishing a legal age to marry, and the ability to inherit from maternal grandparents. (Swarthmore)

The strength of conservative groups within Morocco were able to continue their interpretation of Sharia law until 1999 when Prime Minister Aberrahmane El Youssoufi endorsed the group's plan. However, for the three years, there was a still a standstill in the Moroccan parliament which was 90 percent male. It wasn't until King Mohamad IV ordered a new interpretation of Sharia in which he formed a group of scholars and religious leaders to consult with parliament. In February of 2004, the kingdom passed new and 100 amendments to Moudowanawhich granted most of the requests made by the UAF, excluding forced early marriage. (Swarthmore)

The UAF could continue its fight for social justice for women by following the victim-defined policy process. The organization prepared and planed for twelve years before policy makers finally acted on their requests. When not all amendments were met that they asked for, they accepted the compromise at the time. "Policy advocacy is by nature the work of compromise and negotiation." (Davies & Lyon, 257) It wasn't for another ten years that some of the other changes would be met such as removing forced marriages from code.

The United Nations began working with Morocco on developing programs that can help close the gap between men and women's rights after the new Moudawanawas released. Starting ten years ago, a program titled "The Two Sheep Solution" was enacted. This program provided a loan to each woman in a community with enough money to buy two sheep. The women then began a co-op herd of all the sheep that were bought. In eight years, the herd number of sheep had grown ten times larger. The women increased their household income by 60% and increase their buying power. The co-op has been able to expand its business into bee hives and olive trees and has begun to take literacy classes. (Cole)

The allies within the UN and the Moroccan government were a catalyst in providing this opportunity for the women to overcome the barrier. Now the women have the chance of being equal members of society instead of perceived as anything less;

"Now it's not like the old times. When the man was the only source of income, we had to borrow money to buy clothes for our children. But now everyone benefits from the cooperative's revenue. They have their sheep. They have everything the need. They don't lack anything anymore." (Cole)

Since women within this community have more power, younger women and unmarried women will be see less as a burden to their families. This advantage of less perceived burden will help the women to avoid forced marriages by their families, and more decision-making power within marriages.

The change will assist families in thinking twice about forcing girls to marry because of their age. In turn this will lead to less domestic violence because the women will have more power they didn't feel they had before. Women will have more means to also meet basic human needs that may have prevented them from leaving in the past. (Davies & Lyon, 8)

Other advocacy within the country comes from Princess LallaMeryem, who has made her mission to serve women and children within the kingdom. In the most recent act she has chaired signing ceremony where five new agreements were met to integrate women better in the job market, skills' development, and training. (Kingdom of Morocco)

The princess is an essential ally in the advocating for social change for women and children within the kingdom. She is in a position where she can, as discussed before, “make the institution deal with reality.” (Pence, 2011) She has power to call for better education of police officers in investigations of honor killings, and the influence of lawmakers to create more protective laws for women against forced marriage.

At Home

One of the benefits that the Morocco has over the United States is that it is a constitutional monarchy. This means that if change needs to happen quickly, the king can do so. However, as seen in the UAF's struggles, it doesn't always work out that way. The way laws are made and enacted are similar to the United States, most have to go through a parliament, or congress, to be approved.

What is inspiring is the patience that the UAF kept while they were trying to get the legislation passed. They ended up compromising at certain points while still making progress. The UAF held sit ins and peaceful protests, while the opposition bombed several places in Casablanca in protest. (Swarthmore) This shows that peaceful process and policy change is possible and can be followed in the United States.

The United States would also be able to use the idea of co-ops to help provide opportunities for women in low income or rural areas to build businesses. With micro-loans modeled after the UN’s program for rural Moroccan women, women in the United States could borrow money to begin businesses with communities to help support their families. While the United States' oldest ally has catching up to in regards to lawmaking and how to protect women from violence and domestic violence, Morocco has still shown some innovative ways to solve its problems that can be used by the United States.