For almost two years, Moroccan society and the government have been debating reforms to the national family law, known as the Moudawana. The current push to update the Moudawana is the third such reform since the law’s creation.
The Moroccan government first drafted the family code in 1956, the year of independence from French colonial rule. The first Moudawana would be adapted two years later, in 1958. Ten male Muslim scholars, who based it closely on Quranic law, wrote the original version. As a result, it reflected deeply patriarchal values.
As Morocco liberalized throughout the 20th century, the country’s feminist movement grew and began pushing for changes to the family law. In 1992, the demands gained momentum when l’Union de l’Action Féminine (the Women’s Action Union, or UAF) launched a petition aimed at collecting 1 million signatures to reform the Moudawana.
The Feminist Petition that Changed History
The UAF’s initiative was a massive success, as their petition gathered over a million signatures despite Morocco’s population being only 25 million. This public pressure led King Hassan II to reform the law in 1993. However, the King implemented the reforms unilaterally, and activists deemed them insufficient.
Following King Hassan II’s death and the coronation of Mohamed VI in 1999, activists reignited their pressure campaign to further amend the Moudawana. Mohamed VI eventually relented in 2004, following the Casablanca terrorist attacks a year earlier, which had sparked widespread backlash against religious fundamentalism.
The parliament and the King ratified the 2004 reforms, making them more democratic. Many in the international community praised the reforms as some of the most progressive in the Arab world at the time. It reformed inheritance rights, polygamy, child marriage laws, and divorce laws.
Although the 2004 reforms brought important changes, they still fell short. The law raised the age of consent to 18, allowed women to seek divorce, expanded women’s inheritance rights, and placed limits on polygamy. Yet tens of thousands of child marriages still occur each year, and court rulings on divorce and polygamy remain inconsistent.
The Limited Progress of the 2004 Reforms
While the 2004 reforms initially quieted the movement, activist momentum continued to simmer in the background. The first sign of this energy’s resurgence came during the Arab Spring. Although Morocco did not experience the same upheaval as Egypt or Tunisia, public protests still pushed the government to make concessions.
In 2011, the King amended the constitution to include a clause that prohibits all forms of discrimination, including gender-based discrimination. Many viewed the constitutional change as a step forward, as it aimed to guarantee equal rights under the law for men and women. However, structural inequalities persisted, and women continued to face barriers to achieving those rights in practice.
The constitutional change seemed to rouse the activists, who intensified their efforts to secure equal rights. Their continued advocacy eventually led to Parliament passing a landmark law on violence against women in 2018. In line with a familiar pattern, the law marked progress, but still fell short of fully addressing the issue.
The efforts of activists, along with constitutional and legal amendments, eventually led to a watershed moment that many in Moroccan society had long awaited. In September of 2023, King Mohamed VI called for a reform of the Moudawana.
What the 2024 Proposal Includes
While activists and much of Moroccan society embraced the call for reform, many demanded an end to bans on extramarital relationships, equal inheritance, and child marriage. In contrast, the conservative voices insisted that any changes must align with Sharia law and Quranic principles. These competing visions shaped the debate and influenced the amendments the Moroccan government ultimately proposed.
After more than a year of deliberation, the Moroccan government released its proposed amendments to the Moudawana on Christmas Day 2024. The proposal is extensive, addressing issues such as custodial rights, recognition of domestic work, marriage law, polygamy, the legal age of marriage, divorce, alimony, property rights, minors’ assets, and inheritance. However, three key reforms are notably absent.
The proposal omits provisions for inheritance between Muslims and non-Muslims, DNA testing to establish paternal lineage, and equal inheritance between men and women. It upholds the Islamic tradition of taasib, which states, “female orphans who do not have a brother must share the inheritance with the male relative closest to the deceased … even if unknown and [has] never been part of the family.” The reforms also maintain the rule that a son inherits twice as much as a daughter.
A Society Divided on Gender Reform
While many in Moroccan society support the proposed reforms, there are still prominent voices that oppose. Abdelilah Benkirane, leader of the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD), claimed that the proposals would “weaken masculinity” and that “women’s domestic work contributions in family wealth calculations [are] a Western concept alien to Morocco.”
Interestingly, although Benkirane criticizes the reforms as Western concepts, his arguments closely mirror Western anti-feminist talking points about weakening masculinity. Similar rhetoric has also appeared online. Posts claim that the new Moudawana will make “women men”, that “marriage is over,” and that will lead to a broader societal decline. The underlying message is that any progress for women is viewed as a loss for men.
On the other hand, many women and activists welcomed parts of the reform package. One of the most widely supported proposals is the more equitable management of financial resources during and after divorce. A young Moroccan divorcee wrote on Facebook, “It is unthinkable for a woman who has devoted years of her life to the family home and raising children to find herself without any financial resources overnight following a divorce.”
Despite the support for certain measures and high hopes surrounding the proposals, many prominent activists and feminists are disappointed. They cite the lack of changes regarding legal recognition of relationships outside marriage and the rights of children born out of wedlock as key concerns. Another major grievance is the continued absence of equal inheritance under the law. Many view the reform as only “partial,” falling short of their broader goal of “defend[ing] equality for men, women, and the family.”
The Reform’s Real Test: Implementation
Many expect the proposed reforms to have wide-ranging impacts. In some areas, the reforms can make Moroccan law more progressive than that of certain Western countries. One proposal sets the minimum age of marriage at 18, though 17-year-olds may still be allowed to marry under certain conditions. This proposal would make Moroccan society more modern than that of the United States, where child marriage is still legal in 40 out of 50 states.
In the case of divorce, both parents will now have custody rights. Previously, only men had custody rights after separation. A wife’s domestic work will be considered part of the household’s wealth. This provision will allow women to seek a fairer alimony, as courts can now quantify their contributions to the marriage.
However, the true impact of the reform will depend on its implementation. This dynamic was evident twenty years ago: while many within Moroccan society celebrated the 2004 reforms, weak enforcement meant that many changes failed to materialize. Notably, the number of child marriages actually increased after 2004, despite the law’s intent to reduce them. This time, however, the proposed reforms are more explicit and include stricter conditions, making a repeat of past failures less likely.
A similar pattern could emerge in the case of polygamy. The new reforms intend to restrict polygamy; wives now have the right to refuse a polygamous marriage. However, a judge can allow polygamy in the case of infertility and serious illness. This clause risks reducing women to their biological capacity for reproduction, a step backward when the other reforms seek to advance society.
Why This Moment Still Falls Short
The new Moudawana represents a meaningful step forward. It introduces new protections for women, including stronger safeguards against child marriage and recognition of domestic labour as economic contribution. Yet despite these advancements, the law still falls short in several key areas.
The reform stops short of granting equal inheritance rights to men and women. It permits distant male relatives to inherit in cases where a woman is the sole direct descendant. The new law also fails to recognize children born outside of marriage or to decriminalize extramarital relationships. Polygamy, while more restricted, is not outlawed. Implementation will also play a key role. A conservative Islamic judiciary will likely lead to further poor implementation.
The new Moudawana cannot be dismissed as pinkwashing, as neither the government, the King, nor broader Moroccan society has claimed that the country is now a feminist model. However, the reform is an incomplete step in the right direction, reflecting the delicate balance it is attempting to strike between the conservative and progressive elements within Morocco.
Despite the new Moudawana, there is still much work to do to make Moroccan society more inclusive and equitable. Although many activists are disappointed with the scope of the reforms, they continue the fight for gender equality.
Edited by Atena Abbaspourbenis
