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Rabat – Morocco’s National Council for Human Rights (CNDH) stressed on January 6 the need for the public prosecutors to open investigations and legally punish the criminal acts in the ‘sex for grades’ cases that have caused widespread outrage in Morocco.
The council expressed concerns over the increase of sexual harassment cases in Moroccan universities and encouraged victims to denounce sexual violence and blackmail on school campuses.
In a statement issued by Morocco’s state press agency, the Council is monitoring the trend of criminal sexual acts soaring in schools.
The CNDH emphasized that the smear and harassment campaigns against the students who denounced the sexual harassment are a violation of human rights. The council is calling for the protection of victims and witnesses by providing them with judicial, medical, and psychological care.
The council highlighted the lack of appropriate structures available to manage issues of sextortion and harassment in schools, pointing out that the female students’ complaints were largely ignored by several universities who failed to take them seriously.
As the ’Sex for Grades’ scandal became widely covered by Moroccan media outlets, the National Human Rights institution appealed to the media to report on the issue without compromising and exposing the victims.
Read Also: Sexual Harassment: ENCG’s Oujda Student Association Calls for Investigating Other Teachers
The institution also recalled the pivotal role of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in conducting investigations and prosecuting those involved in the abhorrent acts.
The same source indicated that the CNDH intends to hold round tables with universities and regional commissions to discuss violence, harassment, and sexual blackmail, in addition to ways to protect victims and witnesses.
“Representatives from the regional human rights commissions had listened to female victims in Settat and Oujda and held meetings with student associations and professors,” the statement concluded.
Sexual harassment has been rife in Moroccan schools for years and many students do not report their experience as they do not trust the complaints process and also fear social shaming.
The recent “sex for grades” scandal at Morocco’s National School of Business and Management (ENCG) in Oujda lifted the veil on many similar cases, inspiring students from other universities to come forward and speak out about professors’ sexual demands.
Read Also: Sexual Harassment Has Been Rife on Morocco’s ENCG Campuses for Years
Sex scandals in the education sector have become alarmingly rampant, stirring debate among Moroccans on social media.
Many universities and associations have stepped up their game and launched several initiatives to tackle the issue. They launched a national “green line” (phone line) to report harassment on campuses and organized internal committees to investigate such cases.
According to Article 503 – 1 of Morocco’s Penal Code, “anyone who, by abusing the authority conferring on him, harasses others by using orders, threats, coercion or any other means, with the aim of obtaining favors of a sexual nature, shall be guilty of sexual harassment.”
Sexual harassment is subject to a prison sentence ranging from one to two years and a fine of MAD 5,000 ($538) to MAD 50,000 ($5,386).
