Women and Gender Relations during the Pandemic in Morocco

Abstract

Covid-19 has totally disrupted all activities and social affairs, including gender relations and men’s and women’s living conditions. This article focuses on the negative repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic on women and gender roles in Morocco. It reveals that the pandemic has burdened women with more housework and duties at home, and that violence against them has risen, especially among working class women and housemaids who are particularly socio-economically vulnerable. Many of them have lost their income and feel isolated and lonely, with hardly any opportunity to recuperate their activity, to visit their relatives, or meet new people, and consequently no one to turn to for support. Domestic violence is the most common type of violence against women in Morocco during this pandemic. The fieldwork I conducted in Fès city and its region reveals that some women and girls are often beaten up by their husbands, fathers, or brothers and many cases of such incidents have reached courts and the media. However, these battered women rarely approach the police for assistance because they are often unaware of their legal rights, on the one hand, and because they believe that the police may be biased against them, on the other. Nevertheless, there is a silver lining in this crisis: in a few households, many men show willingness to help with the housework and to provide more care to their children’s education and distance learning. The article ends with recommendations for reform of practices and laws with the purpose of eliminating violence against women in both the private and the public spaces, and proposes education, legislation, and law enforcement as valuable tools to combat such violence.

COVID‐19 and the fate of Moroccan female‐led firms: Regional level evidence

“…With the closure of schools, women who are also responsible for their children's education may have to devote even more time to domestic work, reducing their opportunities to engage in paid work or pursue education or training. Moreover, the isolation at home resulting from the pandemic caused violence against them to increase (Ennaji, 2021). With restrictions on movement and social interaction, women who are victims of domestic violence may find it more difficult to seek help and escape from their abusers.…”

Inside Rural Morocco: Hybrid Models Bridging Gaps in Maternal Healthcare

“…More specifically, the state does not readily work with all existing organizations, and often deems certain groups, such as those that lobby for improved women's rights 137 to be reflected in legislation, unable to be "tolerated." 138 This distinction is clear when examining the governmental supportor lack thereof-offered to male versus female-led medical outreach efforts. For instance, as discussed in Chapter 2, medical students, who are typically male, organized caravanes médicales that provided basic care to residents of rural areas in Morocco.…”