In bold and daring campaigns, MALI pushes for gender equality in Morocco

Known for being behind some of the most daring and unique campaigns for the fight for women’s rights in Morocco , MALI, or the Alternative Movement for Individual Freedoms has been a steady force in the fight for women’s rights in Morocco.

All day, the phone of its founder, Ibtissam Lachgar has been ringing off the hook with calls from journalists and communication agents seeking her commentary on International Women’s Day. To whom, she says the same thing: “this is not a commercial celebration.”

To Hespress EN she said “Every year, we witness this day being marketed as a commercial celebration. We want rights and not flowers!,”

Her tactic has always been provoke, and you’ll get attention. She describes her movement’s work as performative actions of civil disobedience for the sake of shedding light on things that matter.

In 2017, for instance, members of MALI coloed fountains in Rabat blood-red to denounce sexist and misogynistic violence against women.

“We went ahead and colored the waters in red using food coloring, as it is a symbolic color and because it makes people talk,” said the activist.

It did make people talk, and gained the autorities’ attention in particular.

The wilaya of the Rabat-Sale-Kenitra region said that the campaign was lead by “individuals of an illegal movement, which claims to defend the interests of a certain category of society, have damaged public beautification equipment, in polluting the waters of four fountains on Avenue Mohammed V and Place Bab El Had and smearing them with red paint”.

The authorities deemed the campaign illegal and opened an investigation to which Betty responded back then by saying “Keep in mind that such performances, whether artistic and/or militant, have taken place in several countries.”

This was the association’s attempt to raise public awareness about sexism and gender equality on The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

Sexual and reproductive rights are among MALI’s biggest interests .

Betty recalled a campaign that took place in 2019, in favor of abortions called #Clitrevolution where a lot of women wrote on pads with fake blood and pinned them on the walls of the ministry of health to be loud and clear.

The pads had writings in fake blood saying “My body my choice”, “My vulva, my uterus, my decision”, and “The right to abortion is a fundamental right to equality”.

MALI’s members were accompanied by the two founders of the French collective “Clit Revolution”, Elvire Duvelle-Charles and Sarah Constantin.

“The right to abort isn’t just a question of social justice, it is a matter of public health,” explained Lachgar.

The NGO’s latest campaign, launched today, is a digital campaign called #Moudawana23 and will last 23 days.

Throughout this period, MALI will be sharing 23 demands attached to existing ‘sexist’ articles of the family code.

The message will call for normalizing interreligious marriage, prohibiting the marriage of minors, equal heritage shares, and more.

“Through this campaign, MALI is denouncing the alarming and unacceptable situation of the condition of married women,” explained a press release.

Among many initiatives, MALI previously launched a campaign to “feminize” Moroccan Rabat streets to reinforce gender equality in 2019.

The association attempted to change the names of many Rabat streets from being named after influential men to being named after influential women who did great things for Morocco throughout the years.

Betty calls for consistent fighting as the situation of women in Morocco is alarming, she highlighted that this shouldn’t just be an “8th of march thing”, instead the fight should never stop.