El Othmani: Moroccans Must Collectively End Violence Against Women

Rabat – The Moroccan Head of Government Saad Dine El Othmani has emphasized the need to work collectively to eradicate violence against women.

Meeting on Tuesday with members of the National Committee for Women Victims of Violence, El Othmani presented the Moroccan government’s vision for gender equality and women empowerment.

But the Head of Government conceded that an effective implementation of such a vision requires the collective mobilization of all governmental sectors, the “competent” official institutions, as well as civil society organizations. Fighting gender-based violence should be a collective endeavor, he argued.

Despite the government’s constant calls for action against gender-based violence, progress has been slow. Morocco’s High Commission for Planning (HCP) recently found that 82.6% of women aged 15 to 74 in Morocco have been the victims of such violence at least once in their lifetimes.

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To combat what most reports describe as an endemic issue in Morocco, El Othmani stressed the need for further integration of Law 103.13, which stipulates the creation of institutional mechanisms to help women victims of violence. The law came into force in February 2018, but activists have argued that the law falls short of international standards.

Zhour El Horr, the president of the National Committee for Women Victims of Violence, told El Othmani about the obstacles to achieving broader progress. With violence against women soaring in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, El Horr and her colleagues have had to focus on alleviating the lockdown-induced gendered violence.

El Horr also highlighted the involvement of various actors in the fight to overcome violence against women, as well as the various opportunities for cooperation between civil and international actors.

While the Moroccan government is lauded as one of the most progressive in the MENA region, many experts and activists have argued that the country still has a relatively long distance to travel on the gender equality front.