{"id":23524,"date":"2022-08-02T11:28:29","date_gmt":"2022-08-02T11:28:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/highatlasfoundation.org\/?p=23524"},"modified":"2022-09-20T11:36:48","modified_gmt":"2022-09-20T11:36:48","slug":"morocco-religion-women-and-police-oped","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/morocco-religion-women-and-police-oped\/","title":{"rendered":"Morocco: Religion, Women, And Police \u2013 OpEd"},"content":{"rendered":"

– Morocco: Religion, Women, And Police \u2013 OpEd,<\/a> Eurasia Review.<\/strong><\/p>\n

By\u00a0Sabine Stratmann<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The acronym \u2018ACAB\u2019 spraypainted on a wall in Marrakech, Morocco (Photo supplied)<\/p>\n

\n

Distrust in police institutions is an international phenomenon. Walking among the streets of Morocco, one may notice the occasional wall with the word \u2018ACAB\u2019, an acronym standing for \u2018All Cops Are Bastards\u2019, scrawled in graffiti. With France\u2019s ACAB movement having some roots in the police\u2019s practice of ethnic profiling and America\u2019s take on the movement based on systemic discrimination against People of Color, particularly Black men, poses the question of what Morocco\u2019s ACAB graffiti hints at for a change. With only\u00a03\/100 women<\/a>\u00a0survivors of sexual violence seeking help from the police in Morocco today, a culture of normalizing the marginalization of women in public spheres, paired with the only somewhat constructive religious and political efforts made by the Moroccan government, shine a light on the socio-political issues in Morocco.<\/p>\n

With the gender inequality index of Morocco being\u00a0.45<\/a>\u00a0as of 2019, the physical, psychological, and economic violence placed upon women is affirmed. Men\u2019s negative view on women develops in public and familial spaces, in which an\u00a0association<\/a>\u00a0between womanhood and disgust is formed. In this way, attacking women through verbal or physical means is, according to\u00a0Violence against women in public spaces: the case of Morocco<\/em>, \u201ca way for men to prove publicly their virility and dominance over women and space\u201d. In public settings, women\u2019s movement is repressed when facing sexual, psychological, verbal, and physical assault outside the house; and in an institutional sense, women are\u00a0more likely<\/a>\u00a0to experience identity checks by the police. This type of oppression allows the normalization of stripping women\u2019s rights. Women feel this cruelty all their life \u2014 when asking a single mom in college living in Beni-Mellal about when she first realized the restriction of her movement in public spaces, especially at night, she responded \u201cAlways\u201d.<\/p>\n

Despite the seeming omnipresence of police in Morocco, as seen through the police checkpoints held all over the country by traffic police, only\u00a08\/100 women<\/a>\u00a0who experience domestic violence report the incidence to the police. This issue of not filing complaints is twofold: societal shame of being divorced and the fear of being blamed by police for the incident. Oftentimes the female survivor is the one blamed for cases of violence. In some cases, the woman is ignored or placed under a travel ban, while in others she is considered hysterical and can have her job put in jeopardy. Furthermore, due to the #MeToo movement, the\u00a0vilification of women<\/a>\u00a0for coming forward has infiltrated the subconscious of Moroccan minds. In fact, only\u00a01\/10 women<\/a>\u00a0survivors globally come forward to the police about their abuse, but many withdraw their reports because of poor police response. Allegations, by use of politics or power, determine how respected a reported incident will be.<\/p>\n

Although culture and religion stand as chief tenets upholding Moroccan society, efforts in those spheres advocating for women\u2019s rights have proven to be only slightly beneficial in the arena of gender-based violence. In Article 51 of Morocco\u2019s Family Code, the Qur\u2019anic teachings preach the importance for both spouses to share a number of obligations, including cohabitation, family rights, and fidelity. Due to Morocco\u2019s patriarchal society, the religion of Islam is often manipulated by men to their advantage and pleasure \u2013 relinquishing women their rights. Instead of interpreting the text as a sign of mutual respect and collaboration in the private sphere, men tend to believe that, under pretense from the religion, that women must have sexual intercourse with the man, no matter what consent or lack of is involved. Although parts of the\u00a0 Qur\u2019an proclaim the\u00a0equality<\/a>\u00a0between women and men, as well as the\u00a0retribution<\/a>\u00a0of men who oppress or harass women, Muslim scholars today believe that women who attempt to deny sexual intercourse with their husband are\u00a0cursed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

King Mohammad VI\u2019s response to the religious manipulation degrading women\u2019s rights proved only somewhat constructive. In 2004, the King adapted the Family Code, known as the Moudawana. This text conveys that women have rights to self-guardianship and divorce, while also ensuring the legal punishment of those who sexually harass women. In 2018, another law was added that made aggression and sexual exploitation of women illegal, known as Law 103-13. Despite the seemingly favorable nature of the law, the code did not change the Penal Code provision on rape, including the acceptance of marital rape. In response, the reporting rate of filing incidents of violence against women remain\u00a01 in 10.<\/a><\/p>\n

After Law 103-13 was launched in 2018, the General Directorate of National Security, with the help of UN Women, planned a program with the goal of preventing, protecting, and responding to women\u2019s violence and inequality. The program, titled \u201cImproved Prevention and Responses for Women Victims in Morocco\u201d, restructured the Police Units for Women Victims of Violence at every principal police station in Morocco from December 2019 to April 2021. According to the chief of the Casablanca Prefectural Police Unit for Women Victims of Violence, the most difficult part of a woman\u2019s process of experiencing violence is reporting to the police. Therefore, in this agenda, the partners organized and executed the training of\u00a0160 magistrates<\/a>\u00a0on Law 103-13,\u00a0supported 20 non-governmental organizations<\/a>\u00a0in awareness-raising, as well as the\u00a0training of police<\/a>\u00a0on survivor-centered and trauma-informed approaches. The Police Units for Women Victims of Violence were trained how to listen, refer, and record cases to make the experience of coming forward to the police for help as beneficial and comfortable as possible. During the COVID pandemic, 24-hour toll-free helplines were installed and online court sessions were implemented to continue service for women facing violence during unique times.<\/p>\n

Despite action from the General Directorate of National Security and UN Women, as the COVID pandemic swept throughout Morocco, many women isolated in their homes with their oppressor, as\u00a046% of women<\/a>\u00a0state that the domestic environment is the most violent space for them. With this circumstance, gender equality and women\u2019s rights severely deteriorated, with\u00a01 out of 4 women<\/a>\u00a0experiencing physical violence during the peak of the pandemic between May 2022 and April 2022.<\/p>\n

Though political and religious efforts have been made by the King and members of the government, great strides are still necessary to be taken in order to allow women to finally leave the cycle of violence and exercise their rights. In 2020, at least\u00a057% of Moroccan women<\/a>\u00a0have experienced some type of violence, with\u00a09% of those being 12- to 17-year-old girls<\/a>. In addition, many women fear coming to police after they experience rape cases outside of marriage due to the criminal and taboo nature of having sexual intercourse outside of marriage. Women continue to be demeaned for coming forward under religious and cultural reasoning, while police also remain dismissing cases of violence against women. Evidenced by these statistics, more change in regard to police conduct is necessary to end gender-based violence in Morocco. Because coming forward to report acts of violence is the most difficult step for women, building trust in police is a significant area of interest when reforming the police, which would thus aid the prevention of crime and build up community safety. Professionally instructing all police officers through intensive training on trauma-informed care and referrals to psychosocial services\u00a0will coax women<\/a>\u00a0to report abuse. Furthermore, the media should be more transparent, offering information on both the triumphs and feats of police handling with survivors.<\/p>\n

Religion, police, and culture are all factors of Moroccan society that influence women to avoid seeking justice after experiencing violence. Changing cultural stigmas and religious interpretations is difficult to accomplish, but regulations and laws are more malleable. Gender-based violence, paired with female distrust in police, is a phenomenon not new in Morocco. Aiming for the reformation of police to be more community-oriented, and thus building a relationship of trust between institutions and people, is the first step of possible change in the arena of women\u2019s abuse in Morocco.<\/p>\n

Sabine Stratmann is a student at the University of Virginia and an intern at the High Atlas Foundation in Morocco.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

– Morocco: Religion, Women, And Police \u2013 OpEd, Eurasia Review. By\u00a0Sabine Stratmann The acronym \u2018ACAB\u2019 spraypainted on a wall in Marrakech, Morocco (Photo supplied) Distrust in police institutions is an international phenomenon. Walking among the streets of Morocco, one may notice the occasional wall with the word \u2018ACAB\u2019, an acronym standing for \u2018All Cops Are<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":23523,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[113],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Capture-decran-2022-09-20-122139.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23524"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23524"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23525,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23524\/revisions\/23525"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress-haf.ddev.site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}