News & Politics
"In a subtle way, you can shake the world."
― Mohandas Ghandi
― Mohandas Ghandi
Disagreement Of Public Opinion In Morocco:Op-Edby Associate Editor: Christina Maldonado '19 *The article may consist of sensitive material that viewers may find disturbing.
*The teenage girl's identity is not stated. In Beni Mellal, Morocco, 12 men are accused of abducting, raping, and torturing a 17-year-old girl, which brought a disagreement in the public opinion in Morocco at their first court appearance Thursday. The girl says she was kidnapped in Oulad ayad--a town in central Morocco-- in mid-June and was held for two months. Her kidnappers were a group of men who continuously raped her and forced her to consume drugs and alcohol. The girl woke up to discover her right arm and hand, her legs, and the back of her neck littered with crude tattoos, which included a swastika, a naked woman, and the name of one of the men. She said she had no memory of anyone injecting ink under her skin because she was such in a chemical haze. In a telephone interview with The New York Times, Youssef Chehbi--the girl's lawyer-- said, “She was sequestered, taped, tortured and tattooed by a gang of 14 to 15 guys, who also traded her body for cigarettes, drugs, and money.” Making the case public, the girl went against her family's will and went to the police with her story. The defendants and the girl are from the same area and many of their families know each other, so her actions became a fierce contested national topic. Rights activists are in favor of the girl's case. They created a petition to raise money while others question the girl's character and credibility. Those people who question her say that she willingly went with the men, she already had tattoos before the alleged abduction, she tattooed herself, or that she burned her own skin with cigarettes. The defendants ranged from the age of 18 to 28. The New York Times reviewed the police document-- one that is not yet public-- and most of the men admitted having sex with the girl, but stated it was consensual. The act the defendants claimed is still a crime under Moroccan law because the girl is under the age of 18. Mr. Chehbi said that the girl was heading to her aunt's house in mid-June while two young men on a motorcycle approached her; one of the men drew a knife, while the other told her to come with them, and the men took turns raping her(before more men arrived and joined) at a large, dense olive grove. The girl was returned alive to her family August 17th, under the conditions that the family does not go to the police. The girl went to the police to days later anyways. This is not the only case against women that caused a public outrage in Morocco in the previous years. Amina Filali, 16, killed herself in 2012 by swallowing rat poison after allegedly being forced to marry her rapist. Khadija Souidi, 16, died in 2016 after setting herself on fire--while pregnant--when the men she had accused of gang raping her threatened to release photos of the ordeal. Nassima Al Horr, 16, hung herself in 2017 after the men she said had raped her was acquitted. A video of a 24-year-old woman being sexually assaulted by several men on bus rocked Morocco that took place in August 2017. The video appeared on social media, which displayed the perpetrators molesting the woman and tearing off her clothes while laughing, while the other passengers looked on. Women are seen less than a human being but rather as a sexual object they can take advantage of. They need protection and justice. The laws are missing portions in regarding women's safety and it needs to be addressed. Women should not fear their lives on a daily basis and they should not take their own lives when their courts did them wrong. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/06/world/africa/morocco-teenager-gang-rape.html
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