Moroccans see gender-based violence as the second-most important women’s rights issue that their government and society must address, after unequal pay or opportunities in the workplace,” said the most recent survey by the Afrobarometer network, published on Friday.
A total of 28% of the Moroccan respondents said that the issue of gender equality in wages and employment is the top priority issue, followed by the issue of gender-based violence at 24% and the issue of women’s access to positions of responsibility at 14%.
Unequal access to education was ranked as the fourth concern by 13% of Moroccan respondents. Unequal inheritance and property rights was the fifth issue facing Moroccan women at 6%.
More than two-thirds (68%) of Moroccan respondents said that gender-based violence is “not very common” or “not at all common” in their community. 31% of the remaining Moroccan respondents expressed disagreement.
76% of Moroccan poll respondents said that “it is unjustifiable for a man to use physical force against his wife.” As for 21% of them, they said that “domestic abuse may find justifications at times.”
Only 4% of those who responded to the survey said that domestic violence was acceptable.
The same survey results showed that Moroccan respondents were divided over the type of approach that must be used to combat domestic abuse.
Domestic violence is still viewed by 51% of Moroccan respondents as a private concern that needs to be resolved inside the family, while 48% of respondents said that “it is a criminal matter that requires the assistance of law enforcement”.
“Morocco’s approach to addressing gender-based violence incorporates institutional, legal, and advocacy efforts,” said the survey.
Examples in the survey included the 2002 national policy to combat violence against women, the 2014 repeal of Penal Code Article 475, which allows a rapist’s marriage to their victims, the 2016 passage of Law 27-14 against human trafficking, and the 2018 enactment of Law 103.13 on violence against women.