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Moroccan feminist groups campaign to reform Moudawana (Personal Status Code/Islamic

Summary

Between 1992 and 2004, several NGOs built up around feminist ideologies, and a strive for women’s rights took over the leadership of a working group that campaigned for reforms of the Moudawana, or Personal Status Code, which severely restricted the rights of women in Morocco. The struggle to reform the Moudawana took place over decades, a movement that began with the inception of the law in the late 1950s. [source: nv-database]

Tactics used

Tactics used

  • framing
  • petitions
  • protests

Background

Between 1992 and 2004, several NGOs built up around feminist ideologies, and a strive for women’s rights took over the leadership of a working group that campaigned for reforms of the Moudawana, or Personal Status Code, which severely restricted the rights of women in Morocco. The struggle to reform the Moudawana took place over decades, a movement that began with the inception of the law in the late 1950s. However, this particular campaign, led by first by the Union de l’Action Feminine (UAF, Union for Women’s Action) and later the Association Démocratique des Femmes du Maroc (ADFM, Moroccan Women’s Democratic Association), is important because it is marked by two major successes, one in 1993 and the other in 2004, that have since redefined both how women are viewed in the public sphere (by the law and by society) as well as how women’s groups can gain access to the political arena to have their demands realized. The UAF began its campaign on March 3, 1992 with the announcement through its newspaper, 8 Mars, that they were launching a “one million signatures” campaign that would demonstrate the large public support for the reforms that many feminist groups were demanding of the Moudawana. The petition reached its million signatures goal and was presented to the Prime Minister who, with King Hassan II, formed a commission of religious scholars to review the UAF’s demands, which included the removal of laws on polygamy and of the principle that a husband has ultimate authority over his wife. Members of the religious right responded with a counter-petition as well as a fatwa, a non-binding religious opinion concerning Islamic law given by an Islamic scholar, which countered the claims made by the UAF concerning their interpretation of equality, justice, and tolerance. Despite the counterattacks, the commission formed by the King pushed some of the reforms that had been demanded in the petition such as a new requirement for a bride’s verbal consent to marriage, the eli… [source: nv-database]

What happened

these resources, the ADFM created Le Plan d’action national pour l’intégration de la femme au développement (PANIFD, the Plan of Action for the Integration of Women in Development) which outlined a strategic proposal for how and why the women of Morocco would achieve the necessary legal changes in the Moudawana. The AFDM released the Plan at a strategic moment which took advantage of seismic changes in the political landscape such as the 1997 elections that placed the Union Socialiste des Forces Populaires (USFP, Socialist Union of Popular Forces) with a now substantial percentage in the legislature, the appointment of Abderrahmane El Youssoufi of the USFP to the position of prime minister, and the death of King Hassan II who was replaced by his son King Mouhamed VI. These changes were significant because the people and groups that came to power were more sympathetic to the women’s groups’ concerns and liberalization in general. Therefore, the initial response by the government was highly positive. On March 19, 1999, Prime Minister Abderrahmane El Youssoufi announced publicly that he strongly supported the PANIFD. However, the popularity of the PANIFD caused an even stronger counterattack by the opposition groups lead by the Parti de la Justice et du Développement (PJD, Justice and Development Party) the Organisme National pour la Protection de la Famille Marcaine (ONPFM, National Group for the Protection of the Moroccan Family) that spread their message through mosques, marketplaces, popular media outlets, and lobbying the government. Their arguments that the PANIFD violated the sharia (the body of religious Islamic law) eventually convinced the government to remove its support of the plan. In response, organizers of the PANIFD, especially the ADFM, organized two new networks of NGOs: Réseau d’Appui au PANIFD (RAP, Network of Support for PANIFD), Front de Défense des Droits des Femmes Marocaines (FDFM, Front for the Defence of Moroccan Women’s Rights. The RAP included more than 200 organizations related to human and women’s rights and focused on mobilizing a large public support to demonstrate the expansiveness of the support for women’s rights in the country. The FDFM covered just over 50 organizations focused on mobilizing the trade unions and cultural organizations to counter the attacks from the conservative groups. Both networks set out on education campaigns that involved holding large teach-ins that informed people of the stakes involved and how people could contribute. They also proved integral in bringing out the tens of thousands of women and men to march in the streets of the capital, Rabat, on March 12, 2001 in support of the PANIFD. This date was important because it was a public holiday so that many could come out to demonstrate and it was International Women’s Day. In response, the opposition groups mobilized a rally in Casablanca on the very same day that by some estimates reached the hundreds of thousands. The opposition used sensationalist claims of religious and national identity, which placed the women’s activists as outsiders. They carried banners with the slogan, “Yes to the integration of women in development. No to westernization and submission.” In reaction to these large rallies, King Mohamad VI decided to take up the issue himself, activating his authority as Amir al-Mu’minin (Commander of the Faithful), in order to determine the best interpretation of the sharia. He formed the Royal Consultative Commission (RCC), which was composed of religious scientists, lawyers, sociologists, and doctors. Due to members in the RCC who held highly conservative beliefs, the deliberations were very slow moving, but the ADFM and other women’s groups quickly responded to the new institution by forming a new coalition that narrowed its goals to putting pressure on and monitoring the RCC entitled the Coalition Printemps de l’Egalité (CPE, Spring of Equality Coalition). The CPE launched several awareness raising campaigns to continuously keep the pressure on the RCC. They began to disseminate information on the stories of real women who had suffered from domestic violence, repudiation, and early marriage in order to demonstrate the difficult reality of Moroccan women and build the case for the reforms. They developed a slogan that accompanied each story, “Building a democratic Moroccan society depends on the respect of women’s rights.” As the wait for the recommendations of the RCC dragged on, the CPE doubled their efforts to keep the issue at the forefront of public debate so that it would not be lost amongst the many issues facing Moroccan society at the time. They held poetry readings on the radio in favor of the reforms, built community centers for shelter, created pamphlets with legal advise for women, and launched literacy campaigns throughout the country. Then on March 8, 2002, they held a sit-in in front of the House of Parliament in Rabat to demonstrate that they were still very serious abou… [source: nv-database]

Key people & organizations

  • Union de l’Action Feminine (UAF, Union for Women’s Action), Association Démocratique des Femmes du Maroc (ADFM, Moroccan Women’s Democratic Association) [source: nv-database]
  • Réseau d’Appui au PANIFD (RAP, Network of Support for PANIFD), Front de Défense des Droits des Femmes Marocaines (FDFM, Front for the Defence of Moroccan Women’s Rights), Coalition Printemps de l’Egalité (CPE, Spring of Equality Coalition), Collectif Maghreb Egalité 95 (CME 95, Maghreb Equality Collective 95) [source: nv-database]
  • Women’s Leadership Partnership (WLP), World Bank [source: nv-database]
  • Opponents: Organism National pour la Protection de la Famille Marocaine (ONPFM, National Group for the Protection of the Moroccan Family), Parti de la Justice et du Développement (PJD, Justice and Development Party) [source: nv-database]
  • Classification: Change [source: nv-database]

Outcome

Verdict: won.

Nearly all of the demands made by the narrowly-focused CPE were met by the recommendations of the RCC and subsequent passage of the reforms by the Parliament. This meant that not all of the original demands of the ADFM were met entirely. Due to the breadth of their demands reaches into several realms of Moroccan society: social, political, religious, and legal; the fact that they weren’t all met does not indicate that the campaign was unsuccessful but rather that the work is unfinished, to be picked up by subsequent campaigns. In April 2004 they formed the Anaruz national network that offers information and legal assistance to women victims of violence as well as monitors the application of the new Family Code to ensure that it is properly enforced. These efforts have helped to make the transition from paper to action such that the reforms have made a significant impact on women all across the country. Case Study Details Between 1992 and 2004, several NGOs built up around feminist ideologies, and a strive for women’s rights took over the leadership of a working group that campaigned for reforms of the Moudawana, or Personal Status Code, which severely restricted the rights of women in Morocco. The struggle to reform the Moudawana took place over decades, a movement that began with the inception of the law in the late 1950s. However, this particular campaign, led by first by the Union de l’Action Feminine (UAF, Union for Women’s Action) and later the Association Démocratique des Femmes du Maroc (ADFM, Moroccan Women’s Democratic Association), is important because it is marked by two major successes, one in 1993 and the other in 2004, that have since redefined both how women are viewed in the public sphere (by the law and by society) as well as how women’s groups can gain access to the political arena to have their demands realized. The UAF began its campaign on March 3, 1992 with the announcement through its newspaper, 8 Mars, that they were launching a “one million signatures” campaign that would demonstrate the large public support for the reforms that many feminist groups were demanding of the Moudawana. The petition reached its million signatures goal and was presented to the Prime Minister who, with King Hassan II, formed a commission of religious scholars to review the UAF’s demands, which included the removal of laws on polygamy and of the principle that a husband has ultimate authority over his wife. Members of the religious right responded with a counter-petition as well as a fatwa, a non-binding religious opinion concerning Islamic law given by an Islamic scholar, which countered the claims made by the UAF concerning their interpretation of equality, justice, and tolerance. Despite the counterattacks, the commission formed by the King pushed some of the reforms that had been demanded in the petition such as a new requirement for a bride’s verbal consent to marriage, the elimination of a father’s right to force his daughter to marry,… [source: nv-database]

GNVAD scoring: survivalgoals=1 out of 1 points, total points=9 out of 10 points, growth=3 out of 3 points [source: nv-database]

Lessons

  • Sustained nonviolent action can shape public perception and force concessions even when immediate demands are not met.
  • Cross-class, cross-sectarian, or cross-partisan coalitions amplify reach and dilute regime repression.

Sources

Disclaimer: Included as a teaching example of campaign craft, not as an endorsement.

Sources & verification

  • nv-database — grounding: primary — license: link-only
  • Last verified: 2026-07-04

Last verified: 2026-07-04