Morocco teenager’s gang rape has galvanised activists
Movement targets culture of silence towards violence against women
Khadija Ouqrou was outside her aunt’s house in the central Moroccan town of Ouled Ayad when a man dragged her off at knifepoint. The teenager says she was gang-raped and abused for two months then dumped home after her father promised not to tell the police.
In a rare break with conservative mores prevalent in most Islamic countries, where families tend to hush up rape to avoid stigma, the 17-yearold insisted on pressing charges. She spoke of her ordeal on camera, leading to the arrest of 12 men.
Khadija’s decision to speak out polarised public opinion, unleashing a torrent of abuse from Moroccans who blamed her for the assault and catapulting the treatment of women to the top of the political agenda. It has also inspired Morocco’s own #MeToo movement, galvanising activists to oppose a culture of silence that normalises violence against women.
The hashtag “Masaktach,” meaning “I won’t be silent,” trended in its first day on Twitter and the campaigners have since created an account to promote the cause.
“Women are the weakest link in Morocco but Khadija’s case hit us very hard and deep. How she was abused, objectified ■ and stripped of her humanity went beyond the imaginable,” said Leila Slassi, a lawyer and one of 10 women behind the movement. “Taking the issues of rape, sexual harassment and all kinds of violence endured by women in our country to social media opens the way for a new bottom-up approach.”
Seven years after gender equality was enshrined in the constitution, Moroccan women have a problem. The North African nation ranks 119th on the United Nations Development Programme gender inequality index, down 15 spots since the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.
King Mohammad VI has for years promised to improve the lives of women and authorities have amended outdated legislation to offer new protections.
In February, a law came into effect criminalising domestic violence, forced marriage, sexual assault and harassment. Nouzha Skalli, ex-minister of solidarity, women, family and social development, said women’s rights had retreated with the political rise since the 2011 upheavals of Islamist parties with more traditional notions of gender roles and female chastity.
Last year, Morocco’s public prosecution says it received 8,800 complaints of aggravated assault against women, 1,134 rape complaints and 79 sexual harassment complaints. Women’s rights activists say many more survivors never report the crime to protect family honour and avoid being blamed and shamed.
For Khadija, physical reminders of her humiliation won’t fade even if the pain does. Her attackers drugged her, she says, and carved tattoos on her arms, leg and neck.
“My life has become worthless,” she told Chouftv in an interview in August. “They abused me a lot and I’m not forgiving them. They, too, have sisters and wouldn’t want them to be abused the way I was.”