Survey Reveals Young Moroccans’ Views on Relationships Amid Changing Gender Norms

Despite all the legal advances that consolidate the rights of women recognized in Morocco, the perception of the couple by young Moroccans takes into account several social constraints and cultural weights. Despite the adoption of a family code in 2004, the equality and parity between men and women enshrined in the 2011 constitution, and the law on the fight against violence against women adopted in 2018, discrimination against women persists in the country, reports Le360.

In 2009, a study by the High Commission for Planning (HCP) took into account a population of 9.5 million women aged between 18 and 64 years old. 63% of this sample said they had been victims of acts of violence at least once. Oxfam and the Rabat Social Studies Institute also conducted research, in consultation with civil society and researchers. In particular, they conducted a qualitative survey of young women and men aged between 18 and 35, actors or victims or not of various forms of violence.

Another quantitative survey, carried out among 1,014 young people aged between 18 and 35, of whom 50% were women living in urban areas, particularly in the cities of Rabat, Casablanca, Oujda, Larache and Agadir, has shown that "male domination is widely accepted within the couple by the young people surveyed". According to the study, this fact is justified by "strongly rooted beliefs in a patriarchal culture".

Furthermore, the same source states, this study examines the degree of tolerance of young people in the face of the attitude of a man who forbids his wife to dress as she wishes. A typical example on the subject of dress control was submitted to these young respondents: "Karim forced his wife Naïma, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, to change her clothes before going out together to have a coffee".

The results obtained from the opinions of the respondents show that 78% of the respondents approve of the husband’s attitude and that 22% are against it. In short, "the values of the patriarchal order continue to influence the perceptions of the marital relationship among young couples", the survey reveals before concluding that "women themselves have internalized these roles and tolerate this power relationship".