Rabat – An instagram post showing a Marrakech Hotel Villa denying access to “unaccompanied” Moroccan female clients is going viral.
The picture shows the facility’s internal regulation, which states: “Access to the villa is strictly denied for all Moroccan women, who are not accompanied by either their husbands or families. Proof will be demanded upon check in.”
Outraged, a woman took to social media to vent her anger at the hotel’s “liberticidal, discriminatory and sexist” rule. “What is it that we are accused of that we are treated as less than nothing in our own country?” she asked.
The post also includes a response from the Hotel, which reads: “This is simply due to laws imposed by Morocco on all hotels. We would have loved to receive you, but only in compliance with the laws in place.”
In addition, the Villa’s website clearly indicates that “the property might refuse access to unmarried couples. An ID and a valid marriage certificate will be requested upon arrival.”
This is not unusual in Morocco. Despite having strict laws for hotels, including banning them from accommodating unmarried couples in a shared room, no law denying access to single women from any facility is enforced in Morocco.
Morocco World News contacted the establishment for comment, but received no response by the time of publishing.
A variety of Indicators show encouraging progress for the status of women in Morocco, and the advancement of gender equality.
Women in Morocco are constantly breaking barriers across a variety of fields, both in their personal and professional lives. These achievements are encouraged and celebrated by the vast majority of Moroccans. But a variety of legal texts on the matter contradict one another, leaving Moroccan women with the challenge of navigating an uncertain territory.
While the country’s 2011 constitution institutionalised gender equality and disapproved of all forms of discrimination against women, it only does so “within the limits dictated by the Muslim faith.”
This legal parallel creates a society where women are free to work in a multitude of professional fields, earn just as much if not more than their male colleagues, can drive, travel and live their lives independently and freely.
On the other hand, Moroccan mothers are disproportionately discriminated against in family courts and deprived of making decisions on behalf of their children even when they are the sole responsible parent.
For many observers of Morocco’s sinuous road to full-fledged social inclusiveness and gender equality, this dichotomy in the Moroccan regulatory body only leads to further confusions about what can be described as gender discrimination.
Instances of discrimination are depressingly common, but the apparent lack of legal clarity makes it particulalry challenging to hold perpatrators accountable.
