After Debate, Moroccan Government Amends Rape Law
By Aida Alami
Two years after the suicide of a 16-year-old Moroccan girl who was forced to marry the man accused of raping her opened a fierce debate in the Islamist-led government, the government has answered calls for change.
On
Wednesday, the Moroccan Parliament voted unanimously to amend a law
that allows a man convicted of statutory rape to escape punishment if he
marries his underage victim. Otherwise, the law, known as Article 475,
mandates only a few years of prison and a small fine. With Parliament’s
vote, the terms of punishment remain but the exoneration clause has been
deleted.
Pressure
on the government to amend the law began after Amina Filali, 16, forced
by her parents and a judge to marry the man she said had raped her at
knife point, swallowed rat poison in March 2012.
While
activists applauded the change, many said that it did not go far enough
and that all laws governing rape should mandate heavier sentences.
Stephanie
Willman Bordat, a founding partner at Mobilizing for Rights Associates,
a Morocco-based nongovernmental organization, said other laws were also
outdated. Many Moroccan women are reluctant to report rape at all,
because sex is illegal outside marriage.
“This
changes one paragraph in an article when there are a lot of articles
that need to be changed,” she said. “Article 490 still makes it illegal
to have sexual relations outside of marriage, which pressures the minor
victims of rape and all rape victims, even adults, not to bring
charges.”
Ten
years ago, the country adopted a new family code that was seen as
progressive at the time. It raised the minimum age for marriage to 18
from 15, and it gave women more rights in divorce and child custody
cases. But conservative judges and attitudes have made putting these
laws into practice challenging, as many families prefer to marry their
daughters off rather than let people know that they were raped or that
they had lost their virginity. According to workers for nongovernmental
organizations, judicial authorizations for marriage of minors have been
granted in about 90 percent of requests.
Earlier
this week, the Justice Ministry issued a statement supporting the
amendment of Article 475, pledging to push for heavier penalties for
rape.
Ms.
Willman Bordat said the government needed to follow up on its promises
to criminalize violence against women and protect pregnant unmarried
girls.
“We
need to not stigmatize the mother and child who is born outside of
wedlock,” she said. “That will have to be addressed also.”
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