Morocco’s 2004 family code has long been pestered by calls for reform. But when a King-established Council joins in with loaded criticism, it becomes all too imperative for the government to seriously consider amendments to the country’s primary legal text on women’s rights.
“Achieving equality between women and men (…) cannot be achieved without a legal framework consistent with the country’s aspirations that guarantee women the full enjoyment of their rights without slightest discrimination,” wrote on March 8 the Economic, Social and Environmental Council, an independent constitutional institution set up by the King in 2011.
The family code is precisely discriminatory because it continues to juxtapose women’s sexual obligations in direct relation to men’s financial obligations. Although the 2004 code abolished the obedience clause that was once present in the 1957-58 law, remnants of the obedience clause are still very much present. Women are still expected to be conformists and men financially entitled.
Other clauses in Mudawana punctuate this issue. Judges can still grant marriage to girls below 18; women are still expected to have marriage guardianship (wilaya) especially if young and uneducated – echoing classist concerns, and when it comes to divorce matters, women’s private lives become at the heart of state intervention through law mandated reconciliation efforts.
“It is time to review the family code,” said the council.
To sustain its argument, the Council launched an opinion poll between February 18 and March 6, 2022, to elicit the opinion of citizens on the need to amend the Family Code.
The opinion poll, with 1,290 male and female participants showed that about 80 percent of the participants found that child guardianship should be equally shared between the father and mother.
Only 20 percent of the participants believe that guardianship should be assigned exclusively for the father.
About 48 percent of the respondents expressed that the legal deadlines for a divorce ruling should range between one and three months, while 27 percent of them consider that this period should range between three and six months.
25 percent believe that it should not exceed one month.
About 48 percent of the participants stated that equitable distribution of money earned between men and women during the marriage should become mandatory for spouses.
About 62 percent of the participants believe that any possibility of marrying off minors (under 18 years old) should be abolished, without any exception.
During the past two decades, Morocco has ratified many international conventions related to women’s rights, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and adopted a new constitution that stipulates the principle of equality between women and men, and the compatibility of the laws in force with the international obligations of the Kingdom.
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