In Morocco, women's rights activists face death threats amid family code reform

In a joint statement, the targeted activists urged local authorities to take immediate action to investigate the threats.

Basma El Atti
Rabat
02 April, 2024


This is not the first time Moroccan women's rights activists have come under attack for their demands. [Getty]


In Morocco, women's rights activists are facing death and rape threats as the country moves to overhaul an archaic family code.

On 28 March, an Instagram account with the handle "hydra21" shared a death list of twenty-two Moroccan women's rights and LGBTQ+ activists, threatening imminent assassinations.

The list included renowned artist and activist Zainab Fassiki and members of famous local feminist NGOs such as Moroccan Outlaws, Politics4her, and Kif Mama Kif Baba.

The Instagram account, which uses a fake name, has privately messaged several targeted activists, threatening their families and workplaces for promoting "anti-Islam beliefs" and "trying to destroy the values of Moroccan society."

"There's not only one account. We received threats from several other accounts. They threatened my workplace and several associations I work with," Rim Akrache, a Moroccan therapist and activist whose name is on the list, told The New Arab. In several texts, the activist also received detailed rape and sexual assault threats.

In a joint statement, the targeted activists urged local authorities to take immediate action to investigate the incidents. So far, the identities of the harassers are still unknown.

'Fear and terror': the reality of women's rights activism in Morocco

This is not the first time Moroccan women's rights activists have come under attack for their demands.

Cyber-harassment and bullying are a daily reality for Moroccan feminists simply for urging progressive changes such as the criminalisation of child marriage, calling for equality in inheritance, or advocating for LGBTQ+ rights in the North African Kingdom.

"Volunteer activists find themselves often subjected to messages of insults, threats, and death for daring to speak up," said Kif Mama Kif Baba, a women's rights NGO, in a statement co-written with the targeted victims.

However, Mariyem Gamar, founder of the feminist platform Kasbah Tal'Fin, says this is the first time the whole community faces such serious 'terrorist' threats.

"It's also worrying because these terrorists feel comfortable enough to share this on social media," added Gamar in a video she shared on her Instagram account following the threats.

This incident came as the government submitted the first draft of a family code that aims to change several laws regarding marriage, divorce, and custody – a change that conservatives do not hide their discontent about.

Family Code reform: Conservatives fuming

One of the renowned opponents of family code reform is Abdellilah Benkirane, Morocco's former prime minister (2012-2016) and head of the Islamist Party of Justice and Development (PJD).


"The Moroccan people will not accept this," Benkiran said, referring to the new reform. We need to organise a million-people march," he said in March during a party gathering.

Last September, Moroccan King Mohammed VI ordered the government to present a new reform of the family code (Moudawana) within the next six months.

Ending child marriage, inequality in inheritance and monogamy are the three key demands of Moroccan women for the new Moroccan family code, which governs areas of family law such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and child custody.

The committee, tasked with conducting consultations and preparing a reform project, submitted its first draft to the royal palace last week. So far, we have little information about its content.

Ultimately, it will be up to King Mohammed VI, president of the Supreme Council of Scholars, the body with a monopoly on religious edicts (fatwas), to decide on the most divisive aspects of the forthcoming reform.