Morocco

Article 418 of the penal code provides that a husband or wife benefits from a mitigated sentence if they kill their spouse caught in sexual act out of marriage. There is no legal prohibition against FGM as it is not practiced in Morocco. Under the family code 2004 the minimum legal age of marriage was raised to 18 years. The law on combating violence against women of 2018 criminalized early marriage. However, child marriages can be legalized if the family gets a waiver for the minor.

The rapist is penalized regardless of the acceptance to marry the victim. In 2014, article 475 of the penal code, that allowed rapists of underage girls to avoid prosecution by marrying their victims, was repealed.

The Ministry of Solidarity, Social Development, Equality and Family adopted the second Government Plan for Equality (ICRAM) 2 for the period 2017–2021. The Ikram 2 follows the Ikram 1 plan, and seeks to combat violence against women and ensure equality between women and men on economic, social, and political levels. The fourth axis of the plan determines six objectives linked to implementing laws on combating discrimination against women, ensuring implementation of laws guaranteeing women’s’ rights, establishing an adequate and effective framework to combat gender-based violence, ensuring protection and support for women victims of gender- based violence, sustainably limiting gender-based violence, and promoting social protection of women. The Ministry of Solidarity, Social Development, Equality and Family is working on a national strategy to combat violence against women for the period until 2030, based on the legal reforms aimed towards women’s protection and the implementation of the government national and international obligations. The development of strategy has applied a participatory approach that includes consultations with various government stakeholders and civil society actors.

The Ministry of Health established in 2017 the National Health Program for Supporting Women and Children Victims of Violence. It aims at enhancing prevention by actively detecting cases of unreported violence so that health professionals can monitor and handle them appropriately. A unit for combating violence against women and children was created in the Ministry of Health in 2002 to work on the provision of a comprehensive, integrated and effective support and treatment for the victims of violence.

Formal channels of reporting systems include police, courts, and governmental hospitals.

Based on the provisions of the law on combating violence against women, a central cell/unit was created within the Ministry of Solidarity, Social Development, Equality and Family to support women victims of violence, according to the draft decree no. 2.18.856. The law also provides for the establishment of institutional cells supporting women victims of violence within courts, hospitals, police stations and the royal gendarme, as well as additional cells in sectors relating to justice, women, youth and sports, responsible for receiving, listening and supporting victims.

The Presidency of the Prosecutor’s Office has also launched electronic platforms to receive complaints of violence against women.

Cases and data are available for the public in the annual reports of the Presidency of the Prosecutor’s Office in the 2017 and 2018 reports, but they do not provide data on number of reported and acted upon cases. All procedures can be cancelled in case women dropped the complaint.

The 2017 and 2018 annual reports published by the Presidency of the Prosecutor’s Office include the number of reported cases and the number of cases acted upon.

There are procedures for service providers assisting victims of VAWG. These procedures were developed and adopted by the Ministries of Health, Ministry of Interior, and Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Solidarity, Social Development, Equality and Family. The National Committee on Combating Human Trafficking is developing guidelines as per the provisions of the law on combating violence against women.

There are no specific guidelines to identify trafficked women but there is the anti-trafficking law No. 27.14 of 2016. The law does not include or stipulate on procedures and guidelines to be used by law to identify and assist trafficked women. An inter-ministerial anti-trafficking committee was established to coordinate anti-trafficking policies and programs across ministries. Specialized unit was also created to combat trafficking among Moroccans overseas and migrants in the country. However, there is no provision or funding of specialized protection services specifically for trafficking victims for sexual exploitation.

There are no standard governmental procedures and guidelines to identify and prosecute traffickers. The anti-trafficking law No. 27.14 of 2016 includes punishments for the persons who commit human trafficking crimes with up to 20 years imprisonment (article 3-448), but it does not include or stipulate on following clear standard procedures and guidelines to identify traffickers.

There are regulations that oblige service providers including those in the health sector to care for and/or refer VAWG victims. Article 10 of the law on combating violence against women 2018 includes establishing specialized units within courts, and sectors of health, women, youth, and gendarmerie for receiving, referring, and providing direction to the women victims of VAWG.

There is a gender focal unit in the Ministry of Health for coordination of health sector response for VAWG victims.