Morocco eyes law on rape, child marriage
2013-03-07 09:35
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Morocco
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Rabat - Defenders of women's rights in Morocco are inching
closer to a long-awaited goal as the kingdom's parliament works to amend a law
that allows a rapist to escape prison by marrying his victim.
Morocco was shocked in March 2012 by the suicide of Amina
Filali, 16, who was forced to marry the man who had raped her. He remained a
free man under Article 475 of the kingdom's penal code.
A year later, the controversial article is to be amended
after the Islamist government threw its weight behind a new bill now expected
to be adopted by parliament at a spring session.
The justice ministry has said it supports altering the
article, under which the rape of a minor is punishable by several years in
prison unless the victim and aggressor wed.
"We have supported other amendments aimed at the better
protection of minors," Justice Minister Mustapha Ramid told AFP, referring
to new tougher punishments for rape of up to 30 years behind bars.
Rachida Tahri, a Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS)
member and former president of the Women's Democratic Association of Morocco,
has already moved the fight to another level - banning child marriage itself.
The number of child marriages in the kingdom rose to more
than 35 000 in 2010 from 30 000 two years before, official figures show.
Article 19 of the family code adopted in 2004 prohibits
marriage for anyone below 18 years of age, considered the age of adulthood, but
judges have often waived the rule.
"We have noticed, particularly in rural areas,
violations among girls who are just 13 years old," said Zoubida Bouayad, a
socialist MP, adding that more than 10 percent of women marry before the
stipulated age of 18.
A teenager from the central city of Meknes told AFP she was
married when she was just 13 years and half, with false papers. "After I
was drugged and tortured for a year, my husband repudiated me," she said
on condition of anonymity.
Equal rights
The country's Islamist Justice and Development Party wants
to make 16 the minimum age for marriage, while the defenders of women's rights
have called for an outright ban on the marriage of minors.
"A teenager's place is in school," argued Khadija
Rouissi, a member of the Party of Authenticity and Modernity.
"If one part of the law says there can be a marriage at
16 years, it sends a negative message to the people," said Tahri.
The campaigners are basing their case on the 2011
constitution, adopted during the Arab Spring, that calls for "equal
rights" and urges the state to achieve gender parity.
They argue that reforms must go deep, and have the backing
of local and international NGOs.
Several articles of the criminal code must be amended so
that women "can be protected from violence and discrimination," said
Amnesty International.
Khadija Ryadi, president of the Moroccan Association for
Human Rights, called for a "complete overhaul".
"The principle of equality and non-discrimination must
be included in every major law," said Tahri.
Last month, Bassima Hakkaoui, the sole female minister in
the government, announced the creation of a commission of "High Authority
of Parity" under the constitution.
The "dynamism" is there, said MP Bouayad.
"But our concern is the delay."
- SAPA
