Washington – Washington, May 24, 2012 (MAP) – Morocco’s “new constitution made significant steps in codifying civil liberties and advancing gender parity,” the US Department of State’s report on Human Rights for 2011 says.
To illustrate, the report notes that “women’s representation in political parties’ decision-making structures increased during the year, and female politicians featured prominently in the press on a variety of issues.”
The progress made by Morocco in the area of gender parity was further consolidated in the November elections, which “saw an increase of women in the Chamber of Representatives from 34 to 67,” the report says.
The report recalls that the constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, language, social status, faith, culture, regional origin, or any other personal circumstance.
It also recalls that the 2004 family code (Moudawana) changed the marriage age for women from 15 to 18 years and placed the family under the joint responsibility of both spouses.
The Moudawana, the report goes on, also removed the requirement for woman to have a marital tutor as a condition of marriage, made divorce available by mutual consent, and placed legal limits on polygamy.
On the tolerance tradition prevailing in the Kingdom, the report notes that “Jews generally lived in safety,” with “no reports of anti-Semitic acts.”
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