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Rabat – While taking a stroll down a busy city in Tangier, a young woman was ambushed by teenagers.
She was pulled, pushed, and humiliated in front of passive onlookers, with one even lifting up her skirt.
The scene was captured by a security camera. After the video was posted online, it went viral.
Following the incident, local police arrested four teens for sexual harassment. The case is still open and Moroccan authorities assert they are still looking for more suspects.
At the time of the attack, the victim was wearing a tight, short black dress, but that hardly matters. Moroccan women, even those wearing niqabs, face daily harassment regardless of their attire.
A deep-rooted problem
A 2019 study by Morocco’s High Comissioner for Planning (HCP) found that one in two women has faced sexual harassment in the country. A startling 57 percent of Moroccan women reported being victim to in-person harassment, and another 14 percent said they were cyberbullied.
This phenomenon is deeply embedded in Moroccan society.
Cat-calling, staring, and stalking are pretty common. Some say these are often futile attempts to start a brain-dead flirtatious conversation. On the part of the woman, a smile or spontaneous reaction would be interpreted as flirting-back and would pique the attention of the man looking for his next ego trip. Plus, verbally standing up for herself would only embolden the harasser.
Most opt for a more passive response, either by ignoring or discreetly picking up the pace to their final, predator-free destination.
However, the harassment does not stop in the streets. It still seeps into schools, universities and the workplace.
In the professional setting, more than one in ten are victims of violence in all its forms, according to the HCP study.
At universities, a scandal dubbed “sex for grades” has come to light in the last few years.
In 2022, social media platforms were abuzz with screenshots of conversations containing harassing phrases allegedly exchanged between a student and her professor at Oujda university. A similar incident was reported at a university in Tangier in the same year. The 46-year-old professor of Spanish language was sentenced to one year in prison for sexual harassment.
But the story of theses young girls also reflects progress in the fight against sexual harassment.
Conservative attitudes towards women, fueled by religion and patriarchal norms, lead many Moroccans, including some politicians, to belittle the problem. Khadija Rebbah, a human rights activist and member of the Democratic Association of Moroccan Women, recently said it is “time for a radical reform” of the penal code, highlighting “gaps” in the existing laws.
Toothless laws
Moroccan law defines a perpetrator of the crime of sexual harassment as “anyone who persistently harasses others in public or private spaces through actions, words, or gestures of a sexual nature for sexual purposes, or through written, phone, or electronic messages, or recordings or images of a sexual nature or for sexual purposes.”
The law on combating violence against women and expanding the scope of sexual harassment crimes in Morocco stipulates a punishment of imprisonment ranging from one to six months, and/or a fine ranging from MAD 2000 ($200) to MAD 10,000 ($1,000).
This crime is defined as anyone who persistently harasses others in public or private places with words, gestures, or actions that imply sexual intentions aimed at achieving sexual purposes, or by sending written or electronic messages, or through phone calls, recordings, or images of a sexual nature.
The prison sentence may increase to three to five years, along with a fine ranging from MAD 5,000 to 50,000 ($500 to 5,000), if the harassment is committed by a relative or guardian, if the harasser has authority over the victim, if they are responsible for the victim’s care, or if the victim is a minor.
In addition to enacting a law that criminalizes violence against women, which came into effect on September 12, 2018, the Moroccan government is planning to launch annual national campaigns to stop violence against women. These include broadcast TV and radio segments, national and regional conferences, and various other activities.
Yet since the majority of sexual harassment goes unreported, its true prevalence in Morocco can only be guessed.
This may well reflect that the taboo of speaking out still cloaks this crime.
Nabila Jalal, a lawyer and president of the Federation of Women’s Rights Leagues in the Casablanca region, points out that “society’s perception and the difficulty of proving harassment” are factors that allow harassers to escape punishment. Jalal also suggested establishing a specialized police force to investigate sexual harassment cases in Morocco, which would be “trained and equipped to perform its role to the fullest.”
Videos abound online exposing the discomfort and fear felt by women in Moroccan streets and public transport, as well as the viciousness of attacks. Yet activists say the biggest challenge is still convincing men that their actions are wrong.
Women are born free, and growing more displeased day after day with the current, toothless laws. Taking a stroll should never top their worry-lists.
