Moroccan Women Seek Safe Spaces for Swimming as Beach Harassment Persists

"Here, there is no harassment!" confides Sanae, a young Moroccan woman. Many of her compatriots have finally found their place of relaxation: the new pool in Rabat. There, they have the relaxation they no longer find on the beaches, but they do not escape the insistent or disapproving looks, reports AFP.

"Swimming at the beach is no longer a leisure activity for a woman: I was harassed just because I was wearing a swimsuit. Fortunately my husband was there," sighs this 36-year-old mother. She traveled 150 kilometers to enjoy the public pool inaugurated in early July.

Amal, 18, has come with friends, without a male escort. She adds: "The beaches have become unpleasant." Her hope is that "one day women will regain their place on the sand and the right to wear what they want."

For her part, the sociologist Soumaya Naamane Guessous goes back in history. "The phenomenon appeared on certain beaches in Casablanca in the 1990s. Public opinion did not react," she recalls, noting that "it is a regression mainly linked to the spread of Salafist ideas imported from abroad." She will add that "the trend has become so conservative and so commonplace that women in swimsuits suffer critical looks or even degrading comments from other women."

Based on this observation, the sociologist remains convinced that salvation would come from a change in mentalities. The feminist activist deplores that this phenomenon "touches the public space in general" in Morocco.