Morrocan Law Allows Rape!

The North African country of Morroco is under increasing pressure to change part of it's judicial system from protesters, after a young girl of 16, commited suicide after being forced to marry her rapist!


Amina Filali killed herself using rat poison, because she could no longer bear being married to her "husband" who had repeatedly beaten her during their 5 month marriage.  A claim made by the young teenager before her death, to her own mother.


According to an interview with the girls father, Amina was approached when she was only 15 and raped, but did not tell anyone until 2 months later.
When the case went to court, the judge, instead of imprisoning the man for between 10 to 20 years (sentence guidelines for rape of a minor), pushed for them to become man and wife!
The rapist initially did not want to marry the girl, and only changed his mind when he was threatened with  prosecution.


Article 475 of the Islamic penal code allows a "kidnapper" of a minor to marry his victim to escape prosecution and is being used to justify a "traditional practice" of forcing the rapist into wedlock to preserve the "honour" of the family!

United in protest over women's treatment

Abdelaziz Nouaydi, representing the Adala Association for Legal Reform says, a judge can recommend marriage, only when the victim and both families agree upon it.
The main reason why this is allowed? Because the victims honour has been "stained" by losing her virginity outside of marriage! Allowing the rapist to marry his victim "restores" the honour.  There is fear that when a daughter has been raped, that she will no longer be able to find a suitable husband, and this is why the parties involved tend to agree on the unification, to avoid the dishonor and prosecution.

Suffering in silence

According to Morroco's Islamic law, the burden of proving that a woman, has been a victim of rape, lays squarely on her shoulders.


If this cannot be proved, she risks being prosecuted for debauchery, and by definition this means she has "an excessive indulgence in sex" and could face court!






An end to these sham marriages have been called for, and protester's have started a petition on Facebook called "We Are All Amina Filali."

Fouzia Assouli, president of the Democratic League for Women's Rights said: "It is unfortunately a recurring phenomenon, we have been asking for years, for the cancellation of the penal code, which allows rapists to escape justice."

A similar case from last year saw a woman in Afghanistan, jailed for "adultery by force" after she was brutally raped and left pregnant by her husband's cousin.  A worldwide outrage caused the president of Afghanistan to release her from Kabul's Badam Bagh jail.
The attacker was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment.
No where near long enough if you ask me!