Domestic violence against men in Morocco

By Hassan Bendouz

Morocco News Tribune

Quality essays that explore such complex topics are quite rare, so we intend to further work on expanding it.

Agadir, Morocco| Domestic Violence and abuse of women have been in the public eye for many years, but recently statistics on growing cases of domestic aggression against men have become a subject of debate in the Moroccan society.

When we think of cruelty or domestic violence, the last thing that would cross our minds is that husbands might be the victims. It’s usually wives who complain about it. But nowadays, many civic associations shed light on the fact that many husbands are victims of spousal abuse in complete silence and shame.

“In Morocco as a typical conservative and patriarchal society, where the man is supposed to be the head of household affairs and family decisions, Lots of husbands resort to silence even if they’re fiercely abused their wives,” When a man is a victim of his wife’s physical abuse, he becomes under the pressure of society in one side and his family in the other side,” Said Naima Bendouch, Agadir-based social activist.

Indeed, most abused men are embarrassed by the assaults of their wives especially in front of their kids and shamed by society for not “being able to handle their wives “in a better way.

Today, men are not made to play the role of “super creatures “who pretend to be stronger, wiser and smarter than women. For this, they are considered “cowards” for not being able to complain and unveil their wives’ attacks. For many men “Taking it like a man” means don’t complain and don’t show you are vulnerable or in pain.

Culturally speaking, it’s toughly difficult for a Moroccan man to report his abuse and seek help — especially in the Muslim community, where Men are divinely given the moral and economical authorities to head their families.

Lots of husbands are dealing with their wives’ abusive and sometimes very violent behavior as a top secret taboo that they should never expose to the people around.

According to the Moroccan Network for the Defense of Men’s rights, more than 8000 complaints of abused men were received over the last five years.

The number of men harassed by women is still lower than that of women harassed by men, but that does not mean the phenomenon does not exist, said MNDMR president Abdul Fattah Bahjaji to Alarabiya news wesbite.

He added “Violence against men goes back to the abnormal psychological accumulations that women are subject to from their early days of childhood”.

Undoubtedly, most physical assaults caused by women tend to be less serious if compared to a man’s physical assault on women where fist or any weapons are used against them.

When a woman brutally attacks her spouse using kicks, slaps, bites and pulling of her partner’s hair, in addition to subjecting physical pain, she assaults her man’s dignity and humiliate his sense of self-esteem and dignity.

To add insult to injury, many women use their children as a way to cause emotional damage to their husbands. Worse than this, some arrogant women not only hurt the fathers of their kids by abusing them verbally, emotionally, financially and physically, but they also attempt to manipulate the criminal justice system in their favor and against their partner.

Print