Zawaya

Victims of rape as offenders

By: Jemal Mohamed Oumar

The issue of rape has been widely discussed in Maghreb societies recently due to its alarming spread. Mauritanian human rights activist Amina Mint Al-Mokhtar distinguishes between several forms of rape, namely: rape inside shops and taxis, rape of minors by teachers in Qur’anic schools known locally as “Mahadher”, rape in the street and deserted areas, and rape of maids by their employers. Some Maghreb families, especially Mauritanian ones, play a role that is as criminal as the act of rape itself, by sending their minor daughters to Saudi Arabia, and forcing them to marry wealthy men in exchange of material benefits. According to Mint Al-Mokhtar, all rape forms have the same outcome that consists of sexual violence against women without their consent.

The most active organization in fighting rape in Mauritania, Female Breadwinners Association headed by Mint Al-Mokhtar, declared that rape represents 16% of the violence cases among women that the association has tracked in 2010. According to Mint Al-Mokhtar, the real figure is much higher, as there are many factors that hinder the estimation of the real percentage of rape cases in Mauritania. These same reasons prevent accessing accurate information in the rest of the Maghreb as well – due to the dominance of the same mentality and probably the same social ties -, and they consist mainly of the need to preserve the woman’s honor, protect the reputation of the girl and her family and save the dignity of the tribe. These factors tend to obscure this phenomenon instead of encouraging suing assaulters, because making a rape case public might embarrass the victim and her family in a society that has no mercy on rape victims. Instead of being fair towards those victims and supporting them, society considers them offenders, deviant, shameful and scandalous. Moreover, society claims that a woman cannot be raped without her consent, and that she willingly triggers sexual harassment or rape because she wears revealing clothes, seduces the offender or plays along with him, or goes to suspicious places.

Human rights and civil society organizations specialized in fighting rape and sexual harassment sounded the alarm, denounced this phenomenon that has been growing in recent years, and urged families, the media and the judiciary system to play an active role in fighting it. The media has to raise awareness about the risks of this phenomenon, and broadcast programs to teach women their rights, while targeting the most vulnerable categories of society by simplifying their message to make it understandable for those poor and illiterate families. Maghreb governments should implement economic programs for families whose living conditions force them to make their daughters work as domestic servants, and thus subject to rape by their employers. The judicial system is also required to firmly apply deterrent laws against offenders, as they are often left free after committing their crime, and tempted to repeat it without fearing any punishment.