Do you remember the high profile case of Amina Filali? She was just 16 when she took her own life. A few months earlier, the Moroccan teenager had been forced to marry the man she said had raped her. Her death exposed the appalling get-out clause that allowed men accused of rape in Morocco to walk free by marrying their victim.
In January 2014 – two years later and after sustained campaigning – the Moroccan parliament unanimously agreed to amend this clause. We are now campaigning for similar provisions to be removed in neighbouring Tunisia and Algeria and for the state to go further to protect sexual violence survivors in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.
Act now to defend the rights of Algerian, Tunisian and Moroccan survivors of sexual violence.
Women and girls have the right to live free from rape and other forms of sexual violence. Yet discriminatory and harmful provisions in Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian laws not only fail to protect survivors of sexual violence they further stigmatize and victimize them.
In Tunisia, a 27-year-old woman, Meriem Ben Mohamed, said she was raped by two policemen in September 2012. Instead of investigating her complaint, the authorities accused her of indecency. Her case exposes a clear need for the authorities to ensure that survivors receive the legal, social and medical assistance they need.
Stand with survivors of sexual violence like Meriem, and call on the Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian authorities to abolish these discriminatory and harmful laws once and for all.
Join us now in saying no more excuses and no more delays.
Many thanks
Jessie Macniel-Brown
My Body My Rights Campaign Manager