Moroccan Women Break Silence on Sexual Violence in Social Media Campaign

In ten days, the Facebook page of the Masaktach collective is flooded with about thirty anonymous testimonies from women victims of sexual violence. This is in the image of the facts reported by this 26-year-old Moroccan woman who recounted the rape she was a victim of in 2014. "We were at his place watching a movie when Mr. decided he wanted to sleep with me. I say no, I refuse categorically, a serious no, which leaves no doubt," she says. "Mr. still continued, threatening me, forcing me, beating me," she finally admits.

Cases like this Moroccan woman’s are numerous and remain proof that the Masaktach collective’s initiative is a real therapy for all these women who have long suffered in silence. Masaktach was born in 2018 to denounce the rape culture and the violence suffered by women in Morocco. This collective began its battle with the "Khadija case", a 17-year-old girl who had filed a complaint for having been sequestered, raped and forcibly tattooed, for two months, by a dozen individuals.

According to lemonde.fr, citing the latest national survey by the Ministry of the Family, published in May 2019, 54.4% of women in Morocco have been victims of violence. But only 28.2% of them have turned to a person or an institution, and 6.6% have filed a complaint against their attackers.

Masaktach is not the only initiative in favor of battered women. There is a Moroccan influencer, Ghita alias "Baddunes", who created an Instagram page called "The Life of a Moroccan Woman" in July 2019. It now has 45,400 subscribers and several hundred testimonies about harassment. "Women victims of violence feel guilty. On this page, they are supported to have the courage to continue to fight," she says proudly.

According to the same source, women who denounce sexual violence are often subject to mockery, harassment and lynching on social networks. Society designates them as responsible for this state of affairs, notes sociologist Sanaa El Aji, author of the book "Sexuality and Celibacy in Morocco". According to her, women are not yet ready to testify openly, especially when we see "the trivialization of sexual crime and rape culture