Oxfam in Morocco denounces the different forms of gender inequalities in Morocco that prevent women from fully benefiting from their human rights and calls for awareness raising in society on fair, inclusive and sustainable social standards towards women.
In a press release, the NGO highlights the efforts of Moroccan feminist movements to raise awareness and create the necessary conditions for the promotion of gender equality by stressing the importance of gender justice to fight against all inequalities.
Quoting the High Commission for Planning (HCP), the NGO indicates the activity rate of women in Morocco is 19.9% against 70.4% for men, adding that “women are also disproportionately affected by gender-based violence, with approximately 57% of women having experienced some form of physical or sexual violence in their lifetime,” according to the same source.
Oxfam Morocco explains in the world, discriminatory laws persist in certain areas, such as inheritance, marriage on minors or the work of little girls. Furthermore, women are often victims of violence, including sexual violence, but they do not always benefit from the protection and support necessary to lodge complaints and obtain justice.
“Women in Morocco continue to face many obstacles in accessing education, employment, services and resources and that the COVID-19 pandemic as well as inflation have aggravated social, economic inequalities. and gender, with an increase in cases of domestic violence and an increase in the unpaid work load for women”, said Oxfam’s representative in Morocco, Asmae Bouslamti.
On the occasion of March 8, the NGO believes that urgent measures to combat these inequalities between men and women must be taken, believing that they find “refuge in patriarchal social norms accentuated by poverty and vulnerability”.
Oxfam Morocco therefore calls for the implementation of public policies and laws to protect the rights of children and fight against child labor in general, and the domestic work of girls in particular.
Calls for the strengthening of monitoring and control mechanisms to ensure the effective implementation of laws and policies that protect children from domestic work, and the promotion of access to education for girls
And advocates for the awareness of parents and society in general “on fair, inclusive and sustainable social norms towards women, as well as the importance of education for girls”.