Child Sexual Abuse On The Rise In Morocco

The Moroccan NGO “Touche Pas à Mon Enfant” made public, on Tuesday 19, 2009, its 2008 report on child sexual abuse in Morocco; the organization documented 306 cases of sexual abuse against minors in 2008, an alarming and shocking increase from the previous year. The number of cases reported by the “coalition against sexual abuses on minors” in 2007 was six times less. The dramatic jump is attributed to the increased accessibility to the internet, child labor, and sexual tourism. The study also showed that children eight years old and younger whose families are impoverished are the most victimized.

The NGO recognized the fact that a great number of committed abuses go unreported and pedophiles carry on their ignominious perversion unhindered. The conservative nature of the Moroccan society stymies efforts by different organizations and the government to address the issue. The families of abused children most often are reluctant to seek the support of the authorities and specialized foundations lest they’d be stigmatized by their neighbors and friends. Most often, the lack of education and awareness is the driving cause families of sexually abused children fail to recognize the distressing telltale signs of the psychological trauma victimized children silently endure.

Najat Anwar, the president and founder of “Touche Pas à Mon Enfant,” in what seems to me a flagrant attempt at auto-censorship, insisted the report does not represent the reality of the Moroccan society, and amounts to nothing more than the subjective assessment of her organization.

Nouzha Skalli, Minister of Social Development, Family and Solidarity, commented that pedophilia has been a perennial crime in the Moroccan society. She rationalized that an increase in the number of reported sexual abuse offenses against minors in Morocco does not necessarily constitute an increase in the number of victims, but is a good indicator that Moroccans are transcending the irrational fear of shame and dishonor – h’shuma and ‘aar – imposed by societal dogma.

Morocco’s lenient penal sanctions vis-à-vis pedophiles exacerbate the issue. The organization calls for an active combined involvement of all competent authorities to eradicate the problem.

The latest high profile case of pedophilia in Morocco happened in the northern city of Larache last October, but did not become public until April of this year. The incident involved an official in the Istiqlal Party. The complaint was initially lodged by the victim’s father who claimed his thirteen-year-old son was attacked by a cadre of the Istiqlal Party who attempted to rape him. The claim was substantiated by a medical report from a physician and a psychologist who examined the child. The alleged assault happened in the party’s offices in Larache. According to news reports, the father was visited in multiple occasions by a parade of local high ranking officials of the Istiqlal party led by its regional inspector Hassan Amer in an attempt to mitigate the accusation. The father was offered compensation then browbeaten to drop the charge, which he did. The case was reopened by the King’s prosecutor who insisted on seeing the case through the judicial process. The police arrested the perpetrator, Yassin Ait Tamelhit, who confessed to the crime. Yassin’s line of work is a pedophile’s dream come true; it involves constant contact with children; he is the local delegate of the Moroccan boy scout association; he also oversees the youth programs of the Istiqlal Party. His pedophilic proclivity was an open secret not only within the Istiqlal Party, but in the city of Larache.

In a preposterous judicial travesty, Yassin was ordered released on a 2000 MAD ($240.00) cash bail and allowed to return to his functions. Talk about sending the fox into the hen house. I wouldn’t be surprised if, on his way out of the courthouse, yassin was handed a tube of K-Y jelly by the bailiff.

A. T. B. Copyright © 2009