Fatima Outaleb, Director of Union de l’Action Feminine’s (Union for Women’s Action) Women’s Shelter in Morocco

Quotas are something we want and that we thought could be a bridge to parity, but unfortunately they have not been a benefit. We went to national parliament in 2001. Our Swedish partner told us that quotas wouldn’t serve us. In terms of numbers, it served us. It’s only quantity, but the way it has been handled is a catastrophe; it has created divisions among women in political parties. Women in NGOs fighting for this quota and who know why this is important are not part of political parties. Quotas are in the hands of men, and it makes women weaker — -they end up making concessions to get the seats. Power inequality within parties has increased; we don’t have strong women-led parties anymore. There is no criteria for selection, no qualifications, and only political bureaus are in charge of selecting women.

One of our most important issues in Morocco is women’s access to justice. There are many barriers to this that make it difficult for women: illiteracy, non-Arabic speaking populations, widows, poverty, victims of violence. Judiciary jargon is very complex, and doesn’t take into account that half of Moroccans don’t speak Arabic. There are no facilities for women who can’t afford a lawyer. Procedures are very complicated, require a lot of time, and don’t conform with changes in our laws, but the enforcement procedures have not changed.