In the last few years, Morocco has taken the lead among Islamic countries in promoting the rights of women and gender equity.
Recognition for Morocco’s positive steps has come from around the world and was highlighted in Geneva in September 2006, where the Moroccan Ambassador and Permanent Representative in the UN office in Geneva, Mohamed Loulichki, speaking during a debate at the second session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), noted that Morocco has adopted a set of women-friendly measures to annihilate all forms of violence against women, notably the creation of the National Observatory for Fighting Violence against Women in Rabat. The new body is charged with the coordination of social services and following up on specific cases of abuse as they are reported through the legal system. Its board is made up of government representatives, women's rights associations, and a number of affiliated centers offering judicial and psychological support.
The Government of Morocco, in addition to eliminating violence against women, has also criminalized sexual harassment and endorsed a new family code. In 2004, based on the unprecedented initiative of King Mohammed VI, Morocco approved the moudawana, one of the most progressive laws on women's and family rights in the Arab world. The new law raised the age of marriage for girls from 15 to 18 and gave wives joint responsibility of the family with their husbands, notably in the area of equal rights to property upon divorce. Also under the reform to the moudawana, polygamy became acceptable only in rare circumstances, and only with the official permission of a judge. These moves help to secure women’s participation in society and politics to reinforce their power and eliminate gender discrimination in private and public affairs.
Associations such as the Democratic Association of Moroccan Women (ADFM) work in conjunction with the government to ensure the proper execution of the new family law and continue to be instrumental in the advancement of women’s rights in general. Evidence of such advancement came in October 2006 when, for the first time, a woman, Fawziya Amansar, was appointed Governor of the district of Ain al-Shaq and put in charge of construction and urban planning in the provincial administration of Casablanca. Her appointment by King Mohammed VI was a move unprecedented in the years since Moroccan independence in 1956.
Earlier in 2006, 50 women preachers or Mourchidats graduated from a Moroccan government-sponsored training program as a part of a campaign launched by King Mohammed VI to strengthen state-controlled mosques while undermining radical clerics who preach extremism. Morocco’s move is unprecedented in the Arab/Muslim world. Each Mourchidat will be assigned to one of the more than 33,000 mosques in Morocco. While they will not lead prayers (this task is still reserved exclusively to men), the Mourchidats will give basic religious instruction in mosques and provide support in prisons, hospitals and schools. The class of 2006 (which also included 150 men) underwent a year-long, 1,350 hour training course covering 32 subjects, including Islamic law, philosophy, the history of religions and psalmody.
