Criminal Accountability for Gender-Based Violence in North Africa: Beyond Legal Reforms

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter engages with the subject of gender-based violence in the context of North Africa. The introductory section refers to several North African countries including Morocco, Egypt and Libya. However, further in the discussion, the analysis narrows the discussion down to Morocco and Egypt by clearly demonstrating the pervasiveness of gender-based violence in these two countries and how such pervasiveness has not been met by effective criminal accountability. Much has been written on the subject of gender-based violence across a number of North African countries. However, no analysis engages with the subject from the perspective of access to criminal justice. The analysis in this chapter addresses this scholarly gap by underscoring that despite the fact that some progress has been made in terms of legal reform in Egypt and Morocco, there is still a gap in criminal accountability for cases of gender-based violence. The chapter provides enlightenment into this accountability gap by establishing the link between deeply entrenched discriminatory social and religious attitudes on the one hand and access to justice on the other. Against this backdrop, the chapter concludes that eliminating gender-based violence in North Africa will require measures beyond legal reform. It recommends that measures geared towards a change in social attitudes as well as interpretation of Muslim religious texts within their proper context should rank high on the agendas of all North African countries.KeywordsGender-based violenceNorth AfricaCriminal justiceLegal reformEgyptMoroccoSocial attitudesReligion