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Moroccans Call for End to Rape-Marriage Laws
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Summary
A woman’s virginity is highly regarded in
many Arab societies. For a female to lose her virginity outside of marriage is
seen as dishonour on her family, even if her first intercourse experience was
rape. In order to overcome this familial shame laws have been enacted to allow
a rapist to legally marry his victim. After 16 year old Amina Al Filali
committed suicide by drinking rat poison because of such a marriage activists in
Morocco have stepped up. These activists are pressuring the government
officials to overturn these laws. Under Moroccan law, rape is punishable
by five to 10 years in prison, rising to between 10 and 20 years if the victim
is a minor. Approximately 25% of Moroccan women are sexually assaulted at least
once during their life.
Analysis
I believe it is clear that these
societies are extremely patriarchal and the females are viewed as second class
citizens. Being forced to marry and live with a man that has violated you in
such an intimate way will undoubtedly be hard. This is yet another example of
women having their human rights violated. I believe the laws that allow for
such mistreatment were implemented more for the protection of the rapist than
for the honour of the female and her family. These laws allow the rapist to
avoid jail time at the expense of the well-being of their victim. As in the
case of Filali her rapist avoided a possible sentence of 20 years. Not only did
he avoid jail but he was also gifted his victim to brutalize as he wished. The
young lady in return had her family turn their back on her and felt death was
better than her current situation.
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