Hundreds of Moroccan women declared in a manifesto published in the front page of the French daily Le Monde they were outlaws. They stated that they have broken the country’s unjust and outdated laws related to abortion and social norms. The women said: “We are violating obsolete and unfair laws. We are having sex outside marriage. We have been forced to terminate a pregnancy, we enabled or were complicit in abortion.” The text which was released in a form of petition open to men read: “The culture of lying and social hypocrisy leads to violence, arbitrariness and intolerance. Such freedom destructive laws that are impractical have become tools for political vengeance or personal revenge.” The statement co-edited by French-Moroccan author, Leila Sleimani, carried 490 signatures symbolic of Article 490 of the Moroccan Penal Code which punishes sexual relations out of wedlock. To note, the launch of the manifesto coincided with the third hearing in the trial of journalist Hajar Rainoussi who was arrested at the end of August over alleged illegal abortion and extramarital affair. (An Nahar, September 24, 2019)