Sidi Ifni, Morocco- According to the Moroccan High Commission Plan, nearly 827,000 Moroccan women have suffered sexual abuse at a certain point in their lives. The victimized women are aged between 18 to 64 years old.
The phenomenon of sexual violence against women has grown rampant. In a survey conducted by HCP in 2009, 38,000 women experienced forced sexual intercourse at least once in their lives.
Celebrated every year on November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women reminds the world of the injustices done against women and pushes the authorities to take action.
Some husbands are reported to have raped their wives. According to the study, this is also considered as cases of sexual violence.
In every Moroccan household, nearly 6.6% of women or 444,000 women admit to having experienced sexually violent acts. 45.1% of these acts are inflicted by the husband, reported HCP.
The youngest women (18-24), the survey shows, are the most affected by sexual violence.
This threatening fact is sounding alarms for the authorities to intervene to alleviate the problem.
Recently, Moroccan lawmakers drafted a bill threatening jail terms for the perpetrators of sexual harassment.
Women's rights groups continue to express their disgruntlement over the policies of the government as regards criminalizing sexual abuse.
While marital rape has been overlooked in the draft bill, women rights activists complain about not being involved in the initiatives being taken to alleviate this violence.
“I regret that women's rights groups have not been involved in drafting the bill," said Nouzha Skalli, former family and social development minister, as quoted by AFP.
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