Magharebia
Published on Magharebia (http://www.magharebia.com)
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/reportage/2008/02/08/reportage-01
Moroccan society unmoved by the plight of rape victims
08/02/2008
Rape victims in Morocco continue to face blame and rejection for their misfortune. Experts say Moroccan culture, not Islam, is at the source of this double standard.
By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat -- 08/02/08
[Sarah Touahri] Fearing rejection and accusations from Moroccan society, most women who are raped never tell anyone what happened to them.
Rape remains a taboo subject within Moroccan society, despite increased media coverage in recent years. Instead of receiving moral support and encouragement from their families, rape victims are often rejected. Parents see the rape of a daughter as a dishonour which must be concealed at all costs.
Samira tells the story of her aunt Malika, who disappeared five years ago when she was just 16. Malika, raped by a stranger in the countryside near Khénifra, could not tell what had happened because she was afraid of her parents’ angry reaction. She was right to fear the response of her nearest and dearest. When her mother learned about the rape several weeks after it occurred, she beat Malika severely and threw her out of the house.
"Five years on, we're looking for her. My grandmother regrets what she did. But I think it's too late. What's become of my aunt? That's the question tormenting the whole family. We can't be at peace."
Malika's case is not unique. Many rape victims like Malika suffer in silence and cannot share their unhappiness because they know perfectly well the fate that Moroccan society has in store for them.
Hind was 18 when her best friend's father drugged and abused her. In her distraught state, she was unable to decide what to do. She preferred to keep quiet and not say a word to anyone. Now 36, she has been unable to find a husband. Each time she confesses her guilty secret to a fiancé, she never sees him again.
"Whenever someone asked for my hand in marriage, I couldn't hide the dreadful truth," she says, "because virginity is very important for Moroccan men." She continues, "None of the six people who asked for my hand understood. One of them even beat me," she exclaims with tears in her eyes. Her family still does not understand why men leave her after they have been engaged for a few weeks. After years of suffering, Hind has finally decided to consult a psychologist so that she can live her life without nightmares. She no longer dreams of setting up a home and living happily like any "normal" woman.
The exact number of women who have been raped in Morocco is unknown, for the simple reason that few of them tell anyone about their ordeal. "Counselling centres are there," says Amale Safi from the Women and Development association, "But those who dare to talk find it very difficult in front of social workers."
To help women who have been the victims of rape, more and more women's associations in Morocco are offering support, particularly legal and psychological services. Insaf director Nabila Tbeur explains that while her institution primarily assists unmarried mothers, rape victims also seek its assistance. "We point them in the direction of the counselling centre, which has been set up under the judicial code," she says.
However, Safi points out that when a woman dares to accuse a man of rape, judges and police officers regard the allegation with scepticism. "Moroccan society holds the woman who has been raped largely, if not completely, responsible for what has happened to her," she says.
[Sarah Touarhi] "I felt as if I was the guilty one," said one rape victim. "I had to take back my accusation so that I wouldn't endure any more hurtful comments or questions."
Safi speaks from first-hand experience. When she went to the local police station to report her own attack, officers asked her numerous, sometimes "provocative" questions. "I felt as if I was the guilty one. They wanted to be absolutely sure that I was telling the truth, but my state, both physically and psychologically, was an obvious sign. I needed support, and I was faced with a wall of ice," she remembers bitterly with a lump in her throat. Her life has never returned to what it was. The man who raped her was sentenced to a five-year prison sentence.
The Moroccan penal code defines rape as being "the act by which a man has sexual relations with a woman against her wishes". The crime is punishable by a custodial sentence of 5 to 10 years. If it is committed to a minor under 15, the sentence is imprisonment for 10 to 20 years. If the guilty party is a family member, guardian or servant of the woman who is raped or if they are a state official or religious leader, the offence is considered aggravated, and imprisonment is extended from 10 to 20 years in the first case and 20 to 30 in the second.
According to a number of women who have been raped, however, the problem does not reside with the law but rather with attitudes which must change.
Sociologist Jamil Gougani says that Moroccans, like all Arabs, still have an old-fashioned idea of women and sexuality, despite the way society has modernised in the Kingdom. "It's a question of education and culture. Certainly the difference in the levels of education between girls and boys is less obvious, but it still exists. Women are synonymous with honour which must be preserved. Women who have been raped come under attack because it's seen as dishonour for the family," he says.
In Islam, rape is severely condemned. A woman who has been raped is wholly considered to be a victim, while the rapist risks being stoned to death because the offence involves fornication and violence towards others.
"The victim is exempt from any punishment, and this is the unanimous view of Islamic legal experts, whether the rape was inflicted by force or backed by verbal threats," says Islamic studies teacher Ahmed Jouhari.
Islam honours women and accords them all their rights, Joahari adds. "It is the weight of culture, not religion," he says, which allows society to scorn victims of rape.