Tragic Death of Child Domestic Worker Exposes Morocco’s Labor Abuse Crisis

ARTE returns in a documentary to the story of Fatima, this little Moroccan who, at the age of 11, decided to stop school and work to provide for her family. Recruited as a domestic worker in Agadir, about 180 kilometers from her village, for a salary of 30 euros per month, she was long a victim of domestic violence from her employers, a gendarme and his wife, before succumbing in 2013.

During her rare telephone contacts with her family, Fatima assured that she was doing well. But her parents discovered the horror after her death. The young girl’s body was covered with scars and burns. Fatima’s employer was arrested and detained. But her husband, the gendarme, who claims to know nothing, has not been questioned. Better, the justice has only requested a cursory examination of the body of the young girl.

This documentary directed by Hakim El Hachoumi and Andrei Schwartz traces a quest for truth. Without the alert given by the doctor who examined the child in the emergency room, and the two human rights activist lawyers who denounced the case, no one would have heard of Fatima’s murder. The film also shows a family still in shock, but determined to shed light on the murder of their daughter. It also highlights the persistent social inequalities in the kingdom.

See the report online:
[https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/067123-000-A/fatima-mourir-a-14-ans/]