Two teenage girls will face trial this week in the first case of female minors being prosecuted for homosexuality in Morocco. Men have frequently been imprisoned for the same charge of “deviant sexual acts with a member of the same sex.”
The young women, Sanaa and Hajar, who are aged just 16 and 17 respectively, were arrested last Thursday for allegedly “kissing and hugging” on a rooftop in Marrakesh, according to Omar Arbib, an activist at the Moroccan Association of Human Rights. Arbib added that their trial will take place on Friday at the Marrakesh Magistrates Court.
If found guilty the minors face six months to three years in prison, a worrying thought given claims that one of the girls was mistreated while under police custody.
The law in Morocco continues to criminalize homosexuality, despite its 2011 constitution enshrining the right of all people to the “protection of their private life.” This guarantee, human rights advocates say, should mean the decriminalization of private homosexual acts.
Indeed, Sanaa and Hajar are unlikely to receive a fair trial, despite having been provided with a defense lawyer by the Moroccan Association of Human Rights, given the prevalence of forced confessions, including in trials of this nature.
Nonetheless, it is clear that the problems in Morocco lie not only with the law, but with prevailing conservative social values, given that in this case it was a member of one of the girls’ families who alerted the authorities to their activities, according to Arbib.
The current situation in Morocco offers a marked contrast to its position historically as a refuge for homosexual men, persecuted in their native Europe.
Members of the LGBT community face problems across the Arab world, facing execution for ‘sodomy’ in Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen, and lengthy imprisonment in many other countries. Not to mention, of course, Daesh’s horrific execution of homosexuals by throwing them off roofs.
However, neighbouring Tunisia might represent some hope for the liberalization of attitudes, as in May 2015 they became the first Arab nation to legally recognize an LGBT advocacy organization, Shams.
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