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Women’s rights and human rights nongovernmental organizations have criticized the Islamist Party of Justice and Development led coalition for not including women rights activists and trying to dilute the proposed bill. Najat Errazi, the head of the Moroccan Association for Women’s Rights, expressed frustration declaring, ”we have waited for years for this law and we are now very disappointed by its content.” Sara Soujar, another activist, specifically critiques the bill for failing to include provisions for single women. Soujar said, ”this category is totally absent… Reading the text, you get the impression that violence basically only affects married or divorced women, even though others may be more exposed.” She added, ”young women who work in factories or as housemaids, many of whom are minors, are no less exposed.”
Concerns over the bill reflect a recent study published by the state planning commission (HCP) that indicate one in every two unmarried women were subjected to physical and/or verbal sexual abuse and nearly 9 percent in Morocco have been physically subjected to violence at least once.
In particular, the NGO’s have accused Bassima Hakkaoui, the Minister for Women’s Affairs and member of the ruling Islamist party, for excluding them from the drafting of the bill. Others criticized the bill for lacking clarity since violence against women and children are addressed in the same clause. However, Al-Ahram reports that the current bill establishes prison sentences for up to 25 years for perpetrators of violence against women and possible three-year jail terms for those convicted of sexual harassment, “unprecedented steps” for women’s rights.
