Rabat – Amid the sexual harassment scandals that arose in Moroccan universities in recent months, Ain Ghazala 2000 Association in Oujda held an awareness day to tackle sexual harassment incidents, especially in public places and inside school campuses.
The event, which took place on January 31 at the ISLY Golf club in Oujda, aimed at bringing to the public’s attention, particularly the civil society, university students, advisory bodies, authorities, and the press, the prevalent issue of sexual harassement and gender-based descrimination in Morocco.
Through the awareness day, the organizers shed light on the ‘sex for grades’ scandal in the National School of Business and Management (ENCG) Oujda and similar stories that appeared in other Moroccan universities in recent months.
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The campaign aimed to highlight the prevelance of sexual harassment against women while encouraging collective reflection on the extent, causes, and forms of sexual gender-based violence.
The Oujda-based association additionally focused on monitoring efforts, in particular, the resurgence of cases of harassment recorded nationwide within universities.
In a statement to Morocco World News, Latifa Rezzoug, vice-president of the association, emphasized that latest harassment incidents that occured in universities are heinous crimes against female students.
The ‘sex for grades’ scandal enables human rights associations and the press to contribute to the national and regional debate on gender-based violence, Rezzoug noted.
She added that the association’s mission is to prevent and decrease all forms of violence against women in private and public spaces while advocating for an effective implementation of laws related to the protection of victims.
In a press release, the association stressed that the awareness day was held within the framework of the project “Support for the consolidation of democratic participation at the communal, provincial, regional, and national levels to reduce socio-economic inequalities in Morocco.”
The project was implemented in partnership with Oxfam Morocco, the Movement for Peace, Disarmament and Liberty (MPDL), with the financial support of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).
Launched in 2000, the association has been working closely with several other institutions to denounce gender-based violence, provide support to victims, and empower women and youth, President of Ain Ghazal 2000 Nezhae Jaada explained.
Jaada recalled Oujda’s Mohammed I University effective response to the ENCG Oujda scandal, noting that it launched a “green line” (phone line) to report harassment on campuses.
The woman’s rights activist also spoke about Law 103-13 from the Moroccan civil code that shapes the legal framework of violence against women. She emphasized the need to further reinforce violence-related laws to ensure the protection of the victims and the strong punishment of aggressors.
Jaada underlined the importance of the social integration of victims, reiterating the association’s demand to strengthen the legal punishment for gender-based violence.
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