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Rabat – Mobilising for Rights Associates (MRA), an international non-profit organization, has put out proposals for improving women’s rights and gender equality in Morocco’s family code reforms.
This proposal has been disseminated in a series of in-person advocacy meetings, fostering collaboration with MRA’s local partner NGOs. It has also been presented to Ministry officials and members from both houses of Parliament.
The proposals center on three primary objectives, aligning with Morocco’s international human rights commitments, especially those outlined in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Equality for women in family life
The first objective of the proposals is to establish gender equality in family life, specifically addressing disparities in child custody and legal guardianship post-divorce. Currently, fathers retain exclusive legal guardianship, maintaining control over decisions related to their children’s education, property, and other administrative matters.
The proposal advocates amending Article 231 to ensure joint legal guardianship for both parents over their minor children, even after divorce. It further suggests eliminating provisions that pose a risk for mothers to lose custody due to remarriage or relocation.
This objective also includes achieving equality between men and women in access to divorce. Currently, the Family Code exhibits gender discrimination in allowing men to divorce unilaterally, while women are left with the choices of compensating their husbands, proving faults, or citing irreconcilable differences.
The proposal advocates for divorce reforms, emphasizing three pathways: mutual consent; a request citing sexual, physical, psychological, or financial harm; and a request based on irreconcilable differences, all without specific evidentiary requirements. These changes aim to offer women equality in access to divorce.
Another measure emphasized in the document involves the elimination of polygamy. Currently permitted by the Family Code, men have the ability to marry multiple women simultaneously. In such situations, women faced with their husbands’ desire for another marriage are compelled to either consent or pursue divorce.
Equality in rights for all children
In its second objective, the document aims to secure equal rights for all children without any form of discrimination, including the elimination of child marriage.
The approval of child marriages has been commonplace in Morocco, with Ministry of Justice statistics revealing that 85% of requests for authorization to marry a minor are typically approved.
The MRA proposal also seeks to eradicate discrimination against children born outside of marriage, challenging the Family Code’s recognition of legitimate paternal filiation, which currently ties children to a father only if he is legally engaged or married to the mother at the time of conception.
To address the issue, the proposal suggests granting full legal recognition, including naming and inheritance rights, to children born outside of marriage. It also recommends removing any discriminatory information from identity documents related to such children.
Eradicate violence against women
The third objective revolves around ensuring effective measures to prevent and protect women from all forms of violence. In a 2019 national survey, 57% of women aged 15 to 74 reported experiencing at least one act of violence in the year prior. The highest incidence of violence against women was observed within the domestic context.
MRA’s proposal calls to empower family judges to issue protection orders for women victimized by this type of violence. The orders would have specific features, functioning as distinct and independent civil measures, issued in response to the victim’s request during an emergency hearing.
This measure also seeks to combat economic violence against women, ensuring that marriage contracts explicitly address and rectify economic imbalances. By integrating such contractual provisions, the proposal aims to fortify legal safeguards against economic injustices faced by women within the marital context.
Anticipated as a move towards gender balance, the upcoming reforms to the Moudawana, the new family code, aim to combat discrimination against women in comparison to men. There is a hopeful outlook for the expansion of women’s rights, with ongoing calls for further advancements in freedoms of gender equalityy and bodily autonom
