Around 800 people demonstrated today in Rabat for the defense of gender equality in Morocco and the application of article 19 of the constitution.
This demonstration was held following a call from the “Civil coalition for the implementation of article 19 of the constitution,” which groups some 500 Moroccan human rights, feminist, and Amazigh associations.
Protestors have criticized the government for failing to take actions to implement article 19 of the Moroccan constitution, adopted 3 years ago. The article stipulates that men and women enjoy equal rights and provides for the creation of an “Authority for gender parity and the elimination of all forms of discrimination.”
Last year, following a campaign conducted by civil society organizations, Moroccan parliament amended article 475 of the penal code, which allowed rapists to escape lawsuits through marrying their victims. Nonetheless, NGOs note that violence against women is still widespread in the country, with an estimated 62% women victims of violence.
