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Morocco to develop a strategy to combat violence against women
28-8-2017
The Moroccan premier, Saadeddine Othmani, pledged on Thursday to develop a strategy for ending violence against women. His statement came in the wake of a popular uproar after a video went viral on social media. The video in question displayed a collective sex assault against a 26-year-old woman with mental disability in a bus in Casablanca, with a footage showing an impassive driver and passengers who did not physically intervene to stop the aggression. Othmani, member of the Justice and Development Party, (Islamist) uncovered that his government has started the process of thinking to develop preventive mechanisms. He made clear that the “goal is not to punish assailants but to develop preventive mechanisms to deal with violence against women to ensure that such actions are not repeated in the future”. He disclosed that the projected approach to be adopted by the Cabinet will be announced in a timely manner. Meanwhile, the minister of solidarity, women, family and social development, Bassima Hakkawi, who was criticized for her tardy reaction, denounced the outrageous attack and promised to speed up the endorsement of the draft law on elimination of violence against women. To note, the Moroccan law criminalizes sexual harassment against women at the workplace but not street harassment, according to the minister of state for human rights affairs, Mostafa Ramid. The official Morocco considers itself a tolerant Islamic state that does not impose the veil, but women are frequently subjected to insults, derogatory remarks, insults and sexual assaults in public places, Al Hayat wrote. Two thirds of Moroccan women have suffered violent attacks, it said. (Al Hayat, August 26, 2017)
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