VZCZCXRO1646
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHRB #2184 3331645
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 291645Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5283
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 2400

UNCLAS RABAT 002184 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/MAG, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL MO
 
SUBJECT: HIGH-LEVEL GOM SUPPORT FOR NEW CAMPAIGN TO COMBAT VIOLENCE 
AGAINST WOMEN 
 
 
¶1. Summary: The Fourth National Campaign to Fight Violence Against 
Women was officially launched in Rabat November 27 by the 
Secretariat of State for Family Affairs, Childhood and the 
 
SIPDIS 
Handicapped.  The attendance at the launch of the Prime Minister and 
other key GOM officials underlined strong GOM support and 
collaboration with the Moroccan women's movement.  Participants 
mapped out a strategy to further integrate judicial and social 
measures to combat violence against women.  End summary. 
¶2. The campaign entitled "Toward a Law Against Violence on Women," 
will was launched on November 27, with a media blitz set to run 
until December 20, entailing the transmission of TV and radio spots 
including a documentary on achievements so far in this effort. 
There will also be a "national sensitization caravan" which will 
depart from the city of Ouarzazate (500km southeast of Rabat), and 
move toward two conferences organized by the National Observatory to 
fight violence against women (which just celebrated its first 
anniversary), in the cities of Meknes (130km east of Rabat) and Safi 
(400km South of Rabat).  This campaign is receiving funding and 
technical assistance from UNFPA and the German Technical Aid Agency 
(GTZ).  The most tangible deliverable will be the presentation early 
next year of a draft bill on the fight of violence against women, 
intended to complement and strengthen existing laws. 
¶3. This year the campaign was opened on November 27 in the presence 
of several senior members of government including Prime Minister 
Driss Jettou, Minister of State and Secretary-General of the 
Istiqlal Party Abbas El Fassi, Minister of Health Mohamed Biadillah, 
Minister of Communication Nabil Benabdellah, Minister of Social 
Development, Family, and Solidarity Abderrahim Harouchi, and the 
Secretary of State in Charge of Family, Childhood and Handicapped 
 
SIPDIS 
Affairs Yasmina Baddou.  Over a dozen Human Rights and Women NGOs 
were also represented, such as Union Action Feminin (UAF), 
Association Marocaine des Droits de l'Homme (AMDH), and Association 
Marocaine des Droits de la Femme (ADFM). 
¶4. This year's campaign launch was also marked by a detailed 
discussion of the implementation of the national strategy for gender 
equity and equality in policies and development programs.  The event 
was chaired by PM Driss Jettou, who underlined in his opening 
remarks that "Morocco has made human rights, in general, and the 
promotion of women's conditions, in particular, a constant concern 
and principle objective of all development and reform strategies." 
PM Jettou also highlighted that Morocco works on respecting its 
international engagements, pointing out Morocco's decision to lift 
its the remaining reservations on the UN Convention on the 
Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and 
to study ways to adhere to its optional protocols. 
¶5. State Secretary Yasmina Baddou reviewed during her speech the 
first statistics ever gathered on violence against women -- 
collected since the launch on December 23, 2005 of the toll-free 
number for battered women.  She announced that 15,015 complaints of 
violence had been registered of which 78 percent of the violence was 
caused by spouses and 79 percent of the registered victims were 
housewives.  A new event this year was to include street harassment 
as another form of violence against women.  A special TV spot which 
focuses on this type of harassment was screened at the event and 
drew high applause from the hundreds of attendees. 
¶6. The hotline for battered women (08000 8888) was launched on 
December 23, 2005 as part of the 3rd national campaign to fight 
violence against women.  The call center runs 7 days a week from 8 
am through midnight with 10 operators speaking in Arabic, Berber 
dialects, and French.  The center registers each complaint in a 
database and offers medical, judicial, and psychological assistance. 
 Since the center is located in Rabat, it has signed partnership 
agreements with the Ministries of Justice, Health, National 
Security, and the Gendarmerie to facilitate service delivery 
throughout the country. 
¶7. Partnership agreements have been also signed with NGOs where 
victims are sent for orientation.  The center has also created 
social assistance cells in all first instance courts to host women 
victims and the similar facilities are being placed in police 
stations (so far these exist in Rabat, Tangier, Fez, Meknes, and 
Agadir.)  Other assistance centers are being established in the main 
public health facilities (they have already been established in 
Rabat, Casablanca, and Marrakech) but due to limited funds, the 
remaining eleven centers in health facilities will be created in 
already existing centers located in public hospitals for abandoned 
and physically abused children. 
¶8. Comment:  The character of the November 27 conference, and the 
follow up plans that have been laid out, are indicative of the 
significant material and political support the Moroccan women's 
movement receives from the top levels of the GOM.  The conference 
was also showcased the growing maturity and evolution of the 
movement as a self-sustaining force in Moroccan civil society. 
Riley