Project profile — Enhanced Prevention and Intervention in Cases of Violence Against Women in Morocco

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) enhanced protection and promotion of women's rights in the legal and institutional framework; and (2) an enabling environment for women and girls who have survived violence through the provision of quality essential services that are available and accessible, and improved attitudes towards equality.

Results achieved as of March 2023 include: (1) produced a memorandum on the draft reform of the penal code and code of criminal procedure; (2) carried out advocacy for women's access to land rights; (3) contributed to the evaluation of the Morocco report by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the General Assembly for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Fourth Beijing World Conference on Women (Beiing+25); (4) implemented the Government Equality Plan (PGE2); (5) contributed to a memorandum of support on the draft reform of the code of criminal procedure; (6) completed a gender audit of Entraide nationale. The audit was carried out under the supervision of the Ministry, whose mission is to provide all forms of aid and assistance and to contribute to family and social advancement; (7) provided technical expertise for the conduct and production of the national survey on violence against women carried out by the Haut-Commissariat au Plan (HCP); (8) coordinated a report by associations' listening centers on violence against women during confinement; (9) provided support for the HCP's strategic survey to measure the impact of COVID-19 on Moroccan households; (10) analyzed and disseminated statistics from the Direction Générale de la Sureté Nationale (DGSN) on cases of violence against women and girls; (11) restructured the listening, reception and investigation services of the national police (DGSN) for cases of violence against women and girls; (12) prepared framework documents for the institutionalization of a gender commission within Parliament, developed a protocol for the judicial management of women victims of violence and a support plan for the institutionalization of gender within Entraide nationale; (13) developed a program for the management of violence against women and girls within the sectoral department of health; (14) strengthened the capacities of central services and field agents responsible for the management of women and girls who are victims of violence. This includes magistrates and prosecutors involved in the fight against trafficking in women and children, and against child marriage. It also concerns the heads of police reception and listening units for women victims of violence, the managers and social assistants of Entraide nationale, the heads of the Royal Gendarmerie's units for dealing with women victims of violence, and civil society organizations; (15) raised awareness against child marriage; (16) provided support to local associations for awareness-raising actions through arts and sports; (17) coordinated 16-day activism campaigns against violence against women; (18) produced animation videos and digital campaigns on available services and prevention of violence against women; (19) strengthened the operational structures of the listening, support and guidance platform, Kolona Maak, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; and (20) contributed to awareness-raising and prevention efforts, and provided support for the production of a civil society report on the impact of the pandemic on the implementation of PGE2. This contribution also relates to the development of a national directory of existing associative and institutional recourses for survivors of violence.