A step backwards for the rights of Moroccan women

Justice has just overturned the decision of the Tangier Court of Appeal which had sentenced a man to two years in prison for marital rape for the first time in 2019. Feminists denounce what they consider to be a questioning of jurisprudence.

“The judgment rendered, coinciding with National Moroccan Women’s Day, is shameful,” said HespressSamira Muheya, president of the Federation of Women’s Rights Leagues, recalling that “when the judgment was rendered in 2019, we welcomed it, and we considered it to be consistent with the kingdom’s orientations in terms of strengthening rights human women. We hoped that this would finally mark a real and effective application of article 19 of the Constitution, which calls for enshrining equality between the sexes. But, unfortunately, the Court of Cassation contradicted the kingdom’s orientations regarding this democratic path, the principles of human rights and international conventions. »