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Rabat – Morocco’s Minister of Higher Education Abdellatif Miraoui, set up an investigative committee on December 29 following the latest sexual harassment scandal at the National School of Business and Management (ENCG) in Oujda.
The committee will investigate the high-profile harassment case alleging online sexual abuse attributed to an assistant professor at the school.
Sources stressed that the ministry will adopt a fixed committee to investigate the ongoing “sex for grades” cases in various Moroccan universities, especially following academic “sextortion” scandals at the Hassan I University in Settat in September and now at ENCG in Oujda.
The committee is reported to return to Rabat on the same day to deliver a report to the Minister of Higher Education.
ENCG Oujda’s sexual blackmail case broke out two days ago, on December 27, following posts and screenshots shared on social media.
Mohammed I University in Oujda has intervened in the case, “denouncing everything that would harm the dignity of female students in [sexual harassment] cases if proven correct.” The statement added, “The university condemns this shameful behavior and deplores everything that would harm the university’s reputation.”
The university president confirmed on December 29 the establishment of a committee consisting of specialized professors and psychiatrists. The school has created a phone line to report harassment, expressing readiness to provide assistance and judicial escort when needed.
Following yesterday’s protests at ENCG Oujda, the school’s students’ association (ADE ENCG Oujda) issued a statement, demanding the administration “to accelerate the investigation and confirm or deny the content of the anonymous email.”
It has yet to be seen if the anonymous student who first drew public attention to the allegations will reveal herself, alongside other victims who have shared similar experiences, and whether the accused professor will be held accountable if proven guilty.
Read Also: Sexual Harassment Has Been Rife on Morocco’s ENCG Campuses for Years
