Indicator 11: Existence of legal framework offers women legal protection from marital rape

There is no legal framework offering women legal protection from marital rape.

There is no legal framework offering women legal protection from marital rape.

There is no legal framework offering women legal protection from marital rape.

There is no legal framework offering women legal protection from marital rape.

The penal code under article 486 refers to rape as when “a man forcing sexual intercourse on a woman without her consent, and it is punishable by five to ten years in prison”. This reference has been used by the judiciary in respect with the decision of the court of appeals in Tangier, file number 2612/2019/203, where it was stated that “the Moroccan legislator defined rape as a man forcing sex on a woman without her consent, not excluding the married woman, hence, the law can also apply to married women. However, the law on combating violence against women and the penal code does not mention explicitly marital rape and do not explicitly provide legal protection from marital rape.

There is no legal framework offering women legal protection from marital rape.

The law on eliminating violence against women of 2017 offers women legal protection from marital rape but does not mention it explicitly (see under indicator 4). The law defines the sexual violence as any act or attempt to obtain a sexual act by coercion regardless of the relationship to the victim.