Study: 30% of Young Moroccan Women Face Online Harassment, Minister Reports

This 2nd national survey on the prevalence of violence against women carried out by the Ministry of Solidarity, Women, Family and Social Development was based on a sample of 13,543 women aged 18 to 64, living in urban and rural areas across the 12 regions of the kingdom. At the end of this study conducted throughout 2018, 13.4% of women report having been victims of electronic violence.

The survey revealed that young women aged 18 to 24 are the most affected: 30% of the total population concerned by this violence. It should be noted that high school and university students are at the top of the list, representing more than half of the victims, or 52.3%. Single women come in 2nd place on this list with 34.6%. Figures that alone prove that this phenomenon is taking on alarming proportions in Morocco.

The survey also talks about domestic violence and reveals that it particularly affects women in rural areas, indicating that the number of victims represents 19.6% against 16.9% for women in urban areas. As for the types of violence, those of a psychological nature are in the lead with 49%, followed by economic and physical violence in 16.7% and 15.9% respectively of the total. Sexual violence, for its part, represents 14.3% and affects urban areas (17.2%) more than rural areas (8.7%).

According to the survey, the perpetrators of this violence are mostly "victims, or 28.3%, of acquaintances made on the Internet. For the rest, "the cyber aggressor is either a neighbor, a classmate or co-worker, a relative, a personal or family friend, and in other cases, an ex-husband or ex-fiancé," the survey specifies. However, worryingly, the survey shows that in general, the victims do nothing, in the majority of cases.