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NEWS & LETTERS, March 2004Our Life and Times by Kevin A. BarryMorocco law reformsIn January, the Moroccan parliament approved far-reaching changes in the MUDAWANA (family law), granting major new rights to women: 1) At age 18, women will attain legal autonomy, as against the old law putting them under the "guardianship" of their fathers or husbands. 2) Easy male divorce by repudiation and polygamy will become extremely difficult. 3) The legal marriage age for women will be raised from 15 to 18. 4) Wives will now have joint legal responsibility in family matters, rather than being compelled to "obey" their husbands. 5) In cases of separation or divorce, the wife (not as formerly, the husband) will become the presumptive legal guardian of the children. Despite their limited character, these changes are truly historic. Not since 1956, when Tunisia adopted a secular family code, has an Arab country enacted such an egalitarian family law. The new Moroccan law is the product of two sets of pressures. At the grassroots level, feminist groups such as Springtime of Equality have been campaigning for such a law since 1993, when they gathered a million signatures. In 2000, thousands demonstrated in favor of women’s equality, but this was answered by an even larger anti-feminist demonstration by Islamists. However the May 2003 terrorist attacks on Moroccan civilians by Islamist extremists put Islamist groups on the defensive. At the level of ruling class politics, King Muhammad VI, frightened by these attacks and under pressure from the U.S. and France, overcame his hesitations. He decided to back the new law, both to undermine Islamist extremism and to gain favor among the Western powers. |
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