Women in UK and Morocco: Media Versus Reality

From a young age I was fed the overlaboured narrative of women in the Middle East being continuously oppressed, silenced, and as such, passive. I remember their only representation on my TV being as weak and docile wives. These tropes became overwhelmingly present, but also stood in stark contrast to my own experiences. There are many reasons to celebrate living in London, a key one being the plurality of cultures that co-exist, which is significant in creating a sense of belonging and pride. But, being a mixed-race Arab woman, growing up in the UK also presented some difficulties.

I have often found that to the average Western mind, the idea of women’s rights and the Middle East seem antithetical to one another. However, this is not the case. Of course, there are issues of gender equality in the Middle East, including Morocco, however, this is not a problem that the West is free of. In fact, there are ways in which Morocco has surpassed the UK in its attempts to assert gender equality. Therefore, when looking at how these two countries, Britain and Morocco, deal with gender inequality, I found the reality to be much more nuanced than the West might expect.

There are two ways to categorise what I found and continue to find: the public and the private. The place of women in society, specifically the workplace, versus women at home and in their private spheres. For the latter I had my own lived experience—how I felt being at home in Tangier in comparison to London.

Walking alone as a woman, regardless of the time of day, often includes unwanted interactions and unwanted attention from men. Before arriving in Tangier, I was bombarded with advice from British peers to ensure I had a chaperone at all times, avoided eye contact with all men, and did not stop to talk to anyone. Whilst this advice I am sure was good willed, it remained ignorant to the fact that these actions are not isolated to Morocco—these are things I often have to do in London. In fact, I felt no less safe walking the streets of Tangier than I did London.

When observing the Moroccan women in my close family, I see a very matriarchal structure; the women being strong and empowered, characterful and lively and often dominating the conversations and laughter at social events. When spending time with them I feel such a sense of community and empowerment. Moroccan women are strong, caring, compassionate, and incredibly resilient—certainly challenging how they are often depicted.

However, it was not enough to rely on my own experience, I wanted to research further into this area to provide more depth.

A key area to begin exploring this is with women in the workplace, particularly in managerial and leading positions. There are countless statistics online of women making up small percentages of those at the top of corporate circles, with Statista publishing a study in 2021 that showed in the UK, only eight percent of FTSE 100 companies had a female CEO.

Through my engagement with political activism via social media, these statistics came as no surprise. In the West, there is an ongoing conversation regarding the issue of gender inequality in the corporate world. Therefore, when the UK itself is dealing with such an imbalance, it seems odd that they should continue to deflect to the Middle East and focus on their shortcomings, when things are far from perfect at home.

When looking into the statistics of women in the workplace in Morocco, I was met with similar inequalities. According to a study by the Moroccan national statistical agency (Haut Commissariat de Plan, in 2021), in 2020, Moroccan women accounted for 50.2% of the country’s population but only 23% of the working population.

In both cases, i.e., in Britain and Morocco, there are numerous potential variables to account for the discrepancies presented between women in the population, working women, and women working at senior levels. These variables range from personal choices to equality of opportunity for men and women.

Both the UK and Morocco have acknowledged the potential for improvement and proceeded to act on at least one of these variables: equality of opportunity. However, the way in which they do so is notably different.

In the UK, The Hampton-Alexander Review, a government-appointed independent body, suggested a target of 33% of women on the boards of FTSE 350 companies, as a goal by 2020. What is key to note here is this is a target—there is no sanction if it is not met.

In Morocco, however, on July 31, 2021, the Moroccan Parliament adopted a reform which included a new amended law on public limited companies to promote balanced representation of women and men in corporate governance bodies. This reform sets mandatory quotas for women on the boards of publicly traded companies, stating boards must meet a figure of (at least) 30% female representation by 2024, and 40% by 2027.

Morocco is the first country in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to impose any mandatory quotas, with only a few other countries adopting a similar approach: Norway, France, Italy, and notably not the UK.

Whilst mandatory quotas can often be a source of debate, they do act as an immediate and measurable means to implement change. This will increase opportunities for working women in Morocco: increasing representation of women in higher positions whilst also increasing confidence both of and for women in the workplace.

Of course, each country has its own culture, nuances and issues to tackle. It would be naive to blindly compare one to another without acknowledging this fact. However, what has been made clear is the nuances of gender equality and empowerment of women in Morocco are far from the simplified stereotype.

The new reform is a great step forward in empowering the working women of Morocco, and its effectiveness will become clear in the years to come. It is important to continue to highlight not only these tangible steps towards equality, but also the day-to-day attitudes and demonstrations of empowerment of individual women.

Through sharing more stories of the empowered women in our own lives and unpicking narratives and stereotypes, we can continue to raise the profile of Moroccan women and, indeed, women of the Middle East in their full richness, showing them to be three-dimensional and powerful and women to be celebrated.