Gender Matters: Women As Actors of Change and Sustainable Development in Morocco

ISSUE BRIEF 06.19.20 Gender Matters: Women as Actors of Change and Sustainable Development in Morocco Yamina El Kirat El Allame, Ph.D., Professor, Faculty of Letters & Human Sciences, Mohammed V University In comparison to other countries in Against Women helped encourage the the Middle East and North Africa, the Moroccan feminist movement, leading to Moroccan government has implemented a the launch of feminist journals including considerable number of reforms to improve Lamalif and Thamanya Mars in 1983. In the women’s rights, including a gender quota 1990s, women mobilized around the issue of for parliamentary elections, a revision of reforming the Mudawana. In 1992, a petition the Family Code (the Mudawana), a reform was signed by one million Moroccans, and of the constitution, a law allowing women in 1999, large demonstrations were held in to pass nationality to their children, an Rabat and Casablanca. The reforms to the amendment of the rape law, and a law Mudawana were officially adopted in 2004. criminalizing gender-based violence. The 20 February Movement, associated Despite these reforms, women's rights and with the regional uprisings known as the gender equality have not improved; most “Arab Spring,”1 began with the twenty- of the changes exist on paper, and the legal year-old anonymous journalist student, measures have not been implemented well. Amina Boughalbi. Her message—“I am Moroccan and I will march on the 20th of February because I want freedom and HISTORY OF MOROCCAN WOMEN’S equality for all Moroccans”—mobilized INVOLVEMENT IN SUSTAINABLE several thousand, mainly young, Moroccan Moroccan women have DEVELOPMENT men and women. Most of the people who been integral to the reacted to the call were not active feminists Moroccan women have been integral to and had no affiliation with any feminist country’s development the country’s development through their organization. Nonetheless, women were through their role role in its independence movement, its present at all levels of this movement; they democratization, and in various social justice in its independence experienced police cruelty and represented movement, its movements. Unfortunately, women were the movement nationally and internationally. not heavily involved in nation-building post- The activists believed that women’s rights democratization, independence, and the 1962 Mudawana would be better realized by working together and in various social further codified patriarchy into law. It with men towards mutual goals, rather justice movements. legalized polygamy, established the marriage than isolating women’s issues specifically. age at 15 for women and 18 for men, and Thus, the slogans of the movement and its institutionalized tutelage—or guardianship— demands were largely gender neutral. The in marriage. movement was therefore perceived as a new The U.N. Decade for Women and form of feminism, wherein both men and the adoption of the Convention on the women were fighting for the same claims. Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination RICE UNIVERSITY’S BAKER INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY // ISSUE BRIEF // 06.19.20 guaranteeing the soulalyats’ right to MOVEMENT DEMOGRAPHICS: communal land. In fact, 128 hectares were AN URBAN/RURAL DIVIDE distributed to 867 women, who have since maintained control over the land.4 The majority of women involved in the 20 The movement initiated a country-wide February Movement, as well as most of the discussion about collective lands as national participants in previous women’s movements, heritage, revealing the complexity of their were educated and thus unrepresentative management. The soulalyats prompted the of the country’s demographics. The national government to ensure concrete solutions to female illiteracy rate in Morocco is about this issue. 44%; 35% among urban women and 61% Another example of rural mobilization among rural women. Further, 22% of rural and the largest protest movement in women do not receive any formal education.2 Morocco since 2011 emerged in the same The economic inequality gap is therefore vein as the 20 February Movement. Known very wide among women in Morocco. The as the Hirak Rif or the Rif Movement, it took unemployment rate among women and place in the Berber-speaking Rif region of their lack of access to services in rural areas northern Morocco between October 2016 hinders their potential to join the labor force and June 2017 as a result of the death of or to change their situations. The eradication Mohcine Fikri.5 A woman named Nawal of illiteracy is thus necessary to improve Ben Aisha6 played a key role in the protests gender equality and women’s rights. after the arrest of Naser Zafzafi, the leader Although the activists of the 20 February of the movement, and many mothers and Movement were more educated than the wives of prisoners also participated. These average Moroccan woman, they did express women, the majority of whom are illiterate concern about the inequality between elite and Amazigh monolinguals, have become and illiterate women. The movement also important actors of change. provided an opportunity for women to move Better access to technology and into traditionally masculine public spaces. social media has allowed more women Since then, more women have publicly to participate across the socioeconomic expressed that the interpretation of Islamic spectrum as citizen journalists. Protesting texts, culture, and traditions reduced their has become a daily activity, with women status, rather than Islam itself. Even illiterate documenting and sharing acts of injustice women now utilize male-dominated spaces on social media. Women who were kept to denounce injustice and to ask for the silent for decades denounce rape, sexual rights adopted in the new Family Code harassment, child abuse, and domestic and constitution.3 violence on Facebook and YouTube. The Importantly though, rural women Masaktach (“I won’t be silent”) Movement have not been absent from mobilization in is a new and ambitious example of these Morocco, even if they have fewer resources protests, as it denounces rape on Facebook. with which to demand their rights. A rural Public spaces are also now available for grassroots movement began in 2007 by mobilization; women demonstrate in front women known as the soulalyats, who were of hospitals, schools, public administration demanding rights to land ownership. The buildings, and parliament. Women have movement was sparked by a soulalyat therefore become very visible in the public woman from Kénitra whose male family eye, taking initiatives to participate not members sold and profited off of her only in movements that concern women’s ancestral land. The soulalyat grassroots rights, but also in issues that concern the movement forced the government to give general public. The historic and present-day the women formal access to land. After mobilization of Moroccan women reveals a long struggle, a series of laws (62- that women can play a key role in the 17, 63-17 and 64-17) were promulgated sustainable development of their country. for the management of collective lands, 2 GENDER MATTERS: WOMEN AS ACTORS OF CHANGE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN MOROCCO WOMEN’S RIGHTS: A LONG WAY TO GO RECOMMENDATIONS Despite these inspiring accomplishments, The empowerment of women as effective the implementation of new laws is very actors of sustainable development in slow, with no subsequent review. For Moroccan society would require more example, a closer look at the changes reforms and goals, including the following: introduced in the new Family Code reveals a lack of enforcement. Child marriage has Reduce poverty among women by almost doubled in one decade, from 7% prioritizing literacy, guaranteeing education, in 2004 to nearly 12% in 2013.7 Polygamy and facilitating access to jobs. Literacy experienced a similar trend, although to a programs are a key step, particularly for lesser degree: in 2010, nearly 43.41% of women who are beyond schooling age, as 12 applications for polygamy were accepted.8 14.8% of girls aged 15 to 24 are illiterate, The implementation of the constitutional and about seven out of 10 rural women are provision on gender equality has also been illiterate, i.e., 67.4% compared to 36.2% for The 2002 gender urban women and 37.2% for rural men.13 very slow. As Lamrabet argues, even though quotas were a crucial Article 19 of the Constitution gives equality Education will also help reduce poverty, as to women, the practice of equality “does a lack of education accounts for 36.8% of step towards the not and will not exist unless the hearts and poverty among adults and 24% among consolidation of minds of people are changed” and unless the children. Education is especially important democracy and a means for girls in rural areas, as one in 10 girls politicians change.9 Indeed, there were no with which to fight awareness campaigns surrounding the new aged 7 to 12 in rural areas do not attend 14 against the patriarchal Family Code, and the education system did school. Unemployment remains a major not support it. The judges who passed the issue. According to figures from the Higher elements of society; law hold the same patriarchal beliefs about Planning Commission in Morocco, the however, their impact women’s status, due to their interpretation of employment rate for women was 22.2% on women’s status has overall and 70.4% for rural women. Almost religious texts. Based on research conducted been minimal, as the regarding gender issues in Morocco,10 39.3% of employed women work without cultural traditions and the misinterpretation pay compared to only 9.5% of men. For rural political parties are not of religious texts have contributed to women, this figure is closer to 70%. The adhering to the quota. women's subordination. The patriarchal national female employment rate declined 15 misinterpretation of Islam should therefore from 26.8% in 2013 to 22.2% in 2019.

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