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Rabat – As part of Morocco’s efforts to highlight and raise awareness for gender-related issues, Morocco’s High Commission for Planning (HCP) conducted a six-month survey to study the circumstances and consequences of violence against women and girls.
The study is in line with Morocco’s campaign against the scourge of violence against women, launched on November 29.
The survey found that out of 13.4 million women aged between 15 and 74, more than 7.6 million have experienced at least one act of violence in the previous 12 months.
The alarming figure represents 57 % of the female population. In urban areas, women experience more violence than in rural areas, however the difference is slight.
The HCP reports that 58 % of women, representing 5.1 million women experience violence in Moroccan cities, while 55% of women experience violence in rural areas, or 2.5 million women.
Despite the high numbers represented in the survey, the HCP claims that violence against women did start to decline between 2009 and 2019.
The survey argues that the proportion of women who have experienced at least one act of violence has decreased by 6 %, from 63% to 57 % “if we consider only the 2009 target population of women aged 118 to 64 years,” the HCP reported.
According to the HCP, sexual and economic violence has increased alarmingly compared to psychological and physical violence.
The HCP survey finds that the prevalence of psychological and physical violence dropped by almost 9 points. The statistics show that the physical and psychological violence dropped from 58% to 49%.
Sexual and economic violence, however, saw a notable increase of 7 points.
Economic violence increased from 8% to 15% while sexual violence increased by 5 points, from 9% to 14%.
The alarming statistics come at a time when Morocco is increasingly advocating about women’s empowerment, especially after the introduction of law 103.13 to reduce the scourge of violence on women.
Morocco passed the law in 2018 , criminalizing cyber crimes and sexual harassment in public.
Read Also: Morocco Launches Violence Against Women Awareness Campaign
Women’s rights activists have long complained about the law’s vagueness and brevity, as well as the impossibility of enforcing it.
Domestic violence on the rise
Domestic violence remains prevalent, the report finds. The report shows that 6.1 million women experienced domestic violence, an increase of 1 point compared to 2009. The figure represents 52% of women.
The report says that domestic violence mostly affects the least educated, youth, and the most affected by unemployment.
HCP’s 2019 statistics show that 5.3 million women, aged 15 to 74, are victims of violence perpetrated by a husband or ex-husband, a fiancé, or an intimate partner.
The report shows that 52% of married women experienced domestic violence. Looking at young women aged 15 to 24, 59% have been victims of domestic violence victims, meanwhile 54% of women with a medium level of education have experienced violence.Fifty-six percent of unemployed women have experienced domestic violence.
The HCP conducted the survey between February and July 2019. The study covered the all regions across Morocco, with a sample of 12,000 girls and women and 3,000 boys and men aged 15 to 74 years.
Violence in schools
The HCP also noted high number of women experiencing psychological violence in education and training institutions.
According to the study, 22% of students reported having experienced violence.
“The perpetrators of this violence are in 46% of the cases are peers of the victims, 28% are the teachers,” while 21% are foreign to the establishment.
With regards to the categories of violence at education and training institutions, the acts of violence are 52% psychological, 37% sexual harassment, and 11% physical.
