Rabat – Rabat’s Lycee Descartes, the school affiliated with the Agency for French Education Abroad (AEFE), was rocked yesterday by a sexual abuse scandal which has resulted in the firing of a staff member.
In the wake of the controversy, stakeholders, including parents, have raised questions about the environment in the school and how such acts were allowed to take place.
“As a parent, you have to wonder what kind of message tolerating this type of behavior sends to the other girls,” a parent of a student in the class where the abuse reportedly took place told Morocco World News (MWN).
“What, they’re supposed to be coerced into a sexually abusive relationship with a teacher? For what? Grades God forbid? Allowing such behavior risks breaching equality among students,” they continued.
On Tuesday, reports emerged that a Franco-Algerian teacher at the school had engaged in illicit sexual behavior with a student as young as 14 years-old, sparking outrage and condemnation from the Moroccan public.
The school later said it fired the staff member in question, without providing any details on his identity, and that it was in “constant contact” with the victim’s family.
“We unequivocally condemn the actions of the teacher involved in this incident,” the school’s principal François Cuilhe, said in the statement.
Despite the firing, questions are now being raised about the school’s hiring approach and efforts to to maintain a safe environment for students.
“Honestly, the school needs a solid sexual harassment policy and the whole school – teaching staff and the administrative staff – need training on what sexual harassment is,” the aforementioned parent also told MWN.
MWN reached out to Lycee Descartes for comment, but has not received a response as of press time.
Legal implications
The allegations naturally come with severe legal implications for the teacher in question, who face lengthy prison sentences and hefty fines if the allegations are proven.
Speaking to MWN, lawyer Stephanie Williams specified that the acts in question could violate Morocco’s penal code as they constitute sexual harassment and technology-facilitated violence.
The punishments for these crimes are exacerbated when the victim is a minor and/or when the person committing them has authority over the victim, both considered “aggravating circumstances” for sentencing, Williams added.
With such crimes, the accused could be looking at three to five years in prison and a fine of MAD 5,000 to 50,000, she continued.
“It has to be made clear that there is no consent when a person is a minor and/or when a person is in a position of authority over another, such as that of a teacher over a student,” the lawyer also detailed.
“Therefore, any discussion that revolves around what the student did or did not do is entirely off-topic and irrelevant,” Williams said. “Such speech constitutes ‘victim blaming.’”
Spotlight on protecting children
The protection of children from sexual abuse has recently taken a spotlight in Morocco, with several high-profile cases raising questions about the severity or lackthereof of punishments against criminals.
Recent high-profile cases of child rape have sparked uproar in Morocco over perceived leniency in sentencing.
Earlier this year, a court in the city of Agadir sparked outrage after sentencing five adult men to 12 months in prison for repeatedly gang-raping and impregnating a 15-year-old girl in a town near the southern city of Tata.
The sentence led activists to accuse Morocco’s judiciary of leniency against sex criminals and those who abuse minors.
A similar incident occurred recently in the city of Tiflet, where three men were found guilty of raping and impregnating an 11 year-old girl named Sanae, but were sentenced to only two years in prison.
Following widespread condemnation, the Rabat Court of Appeal retried the three men and increased their sentences to 20 years in prison for one defendant and 10 years for the other two.
The protection of minors was also in the spotlight following the September 8 earthquake in central Morocco, as various people were accused of exploiting children who were victims of the tragedy.
Some were seen on social media encouraging their peers to visit the affected areas with the express purpose of marrying some of the victims, including minors, under the veil of “caring for them.”
