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From Poverty to Power Green, Oxfam 2008 - weman

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FROM POVERTY TO POWERCASE STUDYand won the endorsement of Prime Minister Abderrhamaneel-Youssoufi.Conservatives and political Islamists quickly formed an oppositiongrouping, the National Group for the Protection of the Moroccan Family(Organisme national pour la protection de la famille Marocaine), andlaunched their own campaign through mosques and in the popularmedia. Religious conservatives argued that any revision of the law wouldgo against Islam, while political Islamists blamed attempts at reform onWestern influence. Soon thereafter, the government withdrew its supportfor PANIFD.Women’s groups, however, redoubled their efforts, culminating in ademonstration in 2000 that brought tens of thousands of women andmen on<strong>to</strong> the streets of Rabat. A counter-march held in Casablanca at thesame time brought out similar numbers of opponents.Following the demonstrations, King Mohamed VI asked 40 importantfemale leaders from women’s organisations and political and socialmovements <strong>to</strong> meet and make recommendations. He then created a RoyalCommission responsible for the reform of the Moudawana, composed ofreligious scientists, lawyers, sociologists, and doc<strong>to</strong>rs. Significantly, threemembers of the Commission were women from highly respectedprofessions. The King’s guidelines were that their proposals should becoherent with the founding principles and spirit of Islam, follow anyIslamic legal tradition as long as it was in favour of the family and ofharmony, and fulfil Morocco’s international human rights obligations.After two years of delays, the Commission held nine months of openhearings in 2004, meeting <strong>to</strong> analyse the old Moudawana and discussproposals put forth by different constituencies and, finally, <strong>to</strong> preparerecommendations <strong>to</strong> the King. All the while, the PANIFD campaigncontinued lobbying the Commission and reaching out <strong>to</strong> the public.Activists made use of real cases of women who had experienced domesticviolence, repudiation, or early marriage under the old laws, asking men ifthey wanted their daughters protected from such injustices.On 3 February 2004, the legislation <strong>to</strong> reform the Moudawana, thenew Family Code, was passed unanimously by Parliament. Women68

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