The Moroccan LGBTQIA+ community has recently been the target of hate speeches and actions from homophobic and transphobic individuals. The precarious situation and vulnerable position experienced by lesbian, bisexual, gay, trans and non binary individuals through these attacks is directly linked to the criminalization of their existence by the Article 489 of the Moroccan penal code. Despite the major social progress experienced by the country for the past decade and the new constitution in 2011, there has been no legislative progress in terms of individual liberties to protect the most vulnerable Moroccan communities, the ones most at risk to experience violence and hate. Instead, there has been an increase in human rights infringement and an amplification of freedom of speech violations.
The Akaliyat Association has led a study to research the needs of the LGBTQIA+ community in Morocco. This study, for and by the LGBTQIA+ community, allowed us to approach the various populations within the community, from gender and identity expression to sexual orientation in different regions of the country. Of the 400 individuals interrogated, 248 forms were completed entirely. The study focused on the regions of Agadir, Casablanca, Marrakech and Rabat ; Marrakech being the region most represented.
This study represents the foundation on which we will build our future actions, and will allow us to better understand and answer the needs of every individual we want to implicate in our programs.
This probe is the result of remarkable teamwork, comprising four investigators, chosen for their skills and ability to approach the targeted demographic. Amina Terras coordinated the field work and led the investigation upon its realization, assisted by Mehdi Ataibi in the analysis and data processing. The president of Akaliyat, Smail Belqayaha supervised the project as a whole.
The investigation was conducted through difficult conditions for the team and the participants. The LGBTQIA+ criminalization in the country and the lack of legal acknowledgement of our existence made our work difficult. The specificities of the various targeted regions and the particularities of the diverse LGBTIA+ community complicated our ability to outreach. All questionnaires have been completed during confidential interviews between the investigators and the participants which may impact the candor of the answers.
Despite these complications, as a result of constant work and commitment, we completed our investigation which allows us to present comprehensive results.
Results Summary
The results of this study exhibit the magnitude of the discriminatory behaviors and violent actions that the LGBTQIA+ community face in Morocco. Research shows that most discriminatory behaviors and hate crimes are condoned through discriminatory laws, which is why it is urgent for these laws to be reversed. We aim for this investigation to propel a national conversation to address the legal and social shortcomings Moroccan LGBTQIA+ minorities face.
Civil Rights and Access to Justice:
A. General Perception:
The investigation participants perceive their environment to be generally hostile. Only 4% claim they fully benefit from their civil rights, while 58% have a negative perception on the social services they are offered.
B. Arrests and Detentions
Among the survey participants, 29% of them declared having been arrested or detained by local authorities, over half of them explained they were explicitly told the cause of their arrest was suspicions of homosexuality. Others were arrested because of their gender expression, in cases of self-defense following an attack, identity investigation, or missing persons procedure (search for the individual’s family).
Trans and non-binary people are two times more likely to be arrested than other individuals within our community. Furthermore, individuals earning over 8000MAD per month are much less likely to face charges or arrests, less than 20% of this social class are susceptible to harassment and detention.
Participants cited knowledge of the law as a major element that helps avoid arrests.
⦁ Legal Support :
Only 15.3% of the individuals arrested or detained benefited from the services of a lawyer. Amongst them, 47.1% had to personally cover legal bills, 29.4% of them had their bills covered by friends and family, while only 17% benefited from pro-bona legal services or were covered by non-governmental organizations.
Mistreatments and Harassments by the authorities :
Over 63% of the individuals who were arrested or detained claim being mistreated by local authorities. Cisgender
lesbian women and transwomen are most at risk of ill treatment, with respective rates of 75% and 77.5%. Half of
the mistreated individuals report psychological and moral violence through insults, emotional blackmail, humilia-
tion and intimidation by local authorities ; while a third of the mistreated individuals report being victims of exac-
tions and physical violence.
34% of the study participants declared they suffered harassment by the authorities. Trans and non-binary indivi-
duals are two times more likely to be victims of this occurrence.
C. Harassment and Trauma
70% of the study participants report having experienced forms of physical and psychological violence in public
or private spaces. Trans and Non-binary individuals are the ones most at risk.
It is important to note the significant disparities in the location of the violent attacks. Our study has shown that
60% of cisgender lesbian women report suffered attacks in private and/or secluded areas while 86.5% of transwo-
men and 82% of non-binary, gender fluid, and queer individuals report they were attacked and have suffered
from violence in public spaces. This problematic shift regarding the location of the assaults reflects a distinct
social perception between cisgender women and transwomen.
filed a complaint. Fear of retaliation, of being detained when filing the complaint, the awareness of the systemic
inequities, fear of breach of confidentiality, distrust in local authorities, but also, the connection with the assaul-
ter (fear of vengeance, scandal, or impact to family reputation) are the main reasons of the lack of recourse to jus-
Our study has shown that only 14% of individuals having been victims of violence and grievances report having
, tice.
D. The Repeal of the Article 489 of the Penal Code
The data recollection from the investigation shows an important support to the repeal of the homophobic and
transphobic Article 489 of the penal code, and consider the repeal a priority.
Il. Rights and Access to Health
A. Medical Coverage
The number of medically covered individuals doesn’t exceed 38%. Trans individuals record the lowest rate of me-
dical coverage, around 20%. Medical coverage rate is strongly correlated with education and income levels.
B. Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI)
According to the answers of participants, 6.2% suffer from sexually transmitted infections. Cisgender bisexual
men (14.5%), queer-identifying individuals (12,5%), and cisgender homosexual men (11%) are the most infected
communities by STIs. The rate of infection is related to the highest level of education achieved by the partici-
pants, individuals with a primary education suffer from STIs at 21.4% rate, while participants with a higher educa-
tion suffer from them at a 5.3% rate.
Sexually Transmitted Infections and their major correlation with education levels show the importance of sprea-
ding awareness and consciously educating our community to encourage healthy and safe sex practices.
Due to the considerable HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) stigma in Morocco, our investigation was unable to
gather enough reliable data to present a model.
C. Mental and Sexual Health
According to the investigative study, 19.2% of the participants don’t feel comfortable with their sexual selves, be-
cause of lack of self confidence and support systems. Heterosexual transmen at 40%, Queer at 33%, Non-binary
individuals at 33%, and heterosexual transwomen at 25% report feelings of ill being and discomfort with their
lives.
Difficulties related to body image issues, gender dysphoria, and uneasiness of sexual and emotional partners, as-
sociated with the confusion of gender identities and sexual orientations, are often cited as the source of suffe-
ring. Individuals’ self esteem and self perception is impacted. The ache borne by our community affects their abi-
lity to lead successful support systems, friendships and romantic relationships.
Moreover, the suffering experienced by our community is also related to the problematics surrounding the health-
care system, gynecology precisely. Cost barriers and discriminatory/hostile behaviors of medical staffs prevent
the concerned people from accessing proper health care.
III. Activism and Community Involvement
A. Militant and Associative Affiliations :
» The investigation has reported that 51% of the participants claim don’t have any associative affiliation or commu-
nity involvement with any kind of organization. Among the rest, 20% report involvement with an organization or
, association, 16% belong to a political party, 6% to a cultural organization, 1% of the respondents declare to be af-
filiated with human rights organizations, and only 6% participate and are involved with pro-LGBTQIA+ organiza-
tion,
Reports show that cisgender men are the most likely to have a militant and/or associative affiliation,
with more than 60% responding positively. Inversely, trans and non-binary individuals are the least likely
to be involved in community initiatives or organizations.
B. Familiarity with LGBTQIA+ rights organizations and groups
Through the investigation, 40% of survey respondents claim they are unaware of any LGBTQIA+ organiza-
tion that works for the rights of our community.
There is a prevalent correlation between education and awareness of the various LGBTQIA+ Moroccan or-
ganizations, 67% individuals with a formal education are unfamiliar with the various
organizations while only 31% of the individuals without formal education are unaware or unfamiliar with
them. Individuals with less income and with less education is more likely to need social programs and assis-
tance, therefore, more likely to be connected to a pro-LGBTQIA+ organization.
C. Interaction with LGBTQIA+ rights organizations and groups
The low community involvement witnessed through our investigation is explained by the hostility of the
context, the lack of safe spaces, common areas, and the shortage of LGBTQIA+ focused outreach funding.
The LGBTQIA+ rights movement is considered to be not very transparent and to be majority male.
Indeed, fear is the main factor of lack of community involvement at a 61% rate of declarative statements
from our respondents, followed by the absence of safe spaces and community areas at 36%, lack of trust in
the organizations at 31%, lack of hope or belief in positive change at 29%, the masculine domination in
the meetings and gatherings at 29%, finally we notice that the lack of information and disinterest appear
to be significant causes at respectively 28% and 26%.
Within the LGBTQIA+ individuals who have benefited from social programs, the people that feel they are
least involved in the decision making and their development are cisgender women while cisgender men
report the highest rates of involvement.
D. LGBTQIA+ Rights movement objectives and goals
A general agreement is found regarding the LGBTQIA+ rights movement’s goals and objectives, the
consensus is to urgently prompt legislative change and to mobilize the community through awareness
campaigns et the establishment of safe community spaces for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Indeed, legislative change constitute the main concern according to the survey at a rate of 71%, followed
by the creation of safe spaces at 49%, then a global political change at 44%, awareness and mobilization at
43%, self defense training and protection formation at 42%, alliances and partnerships with local and inter-
~ national NGOs (Non governmental organizations) at 38%, and lastly but not least, focused support of
vulnerable LGBTQIA+ individuals.
Sample notes
248 individuals fully completed the survey
Graph A : Survey participants by gender assigned at birth
Gender identity and Sexual orientation
Through the surveys, we reported 40 different categories of gender identity and sexual orientation combi-
nations. The most represented categories are homosexual cisgender men at 26%, homosexual cisgender
women at 23.7%, heterosexual transwomen at 14.7%, followed by bisexual cisgender women at 8% and bi-
sexual cisgender men at 5%.
Territorial spread and Education levels
The territorial areas constitute mainly five urban regions, of Agadir Souss-Massa-Draa, Casablanca-Settat,
Marrakech-Tensift-AlHaouz, Rabat-Sale-Kenitra, and Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima. Marrakech-Tensift-Al-
Haouz being the one most represented with 40% of the participants living there.
The surveyed individuals are characterized by mostly educated individuals. Precisely, 48.5% of the partici-
pants have attained higher education establishments, almost 40% of them have graduated high school,
while individuals with at most middle school education doesn’t exceed 11%.
Employment and Income
Unemployed individuals constitute 10% of the survey participants. A prevalent majority of the partici-
pants are students at 37.5%, followed by self employed individuals at 13%, sex workers at 10.9% and go-
vernment employees at 9%. The remainder 20% are workers, artisans, and other salaried individuals.
Regarding income, 60% of the survey participants report an income of less than 2700MAD per month, 20%
report an income between 2700MAD and 5000MAD per month, then 10% report making between
5000MAD and 8000MAD, followed by the 10% of individuals who report generating income over
8000MAD per month.
5
SUMMARY TABLE
|. Civil Rights and Access to Justice …..
A. General Perception
B. Arrests and Detentions
C. Harassment and Trauma
D. The Repeal of the Article 489 of the Penal Code
Il. Rights and Access to Health
A. Medical Coverage
B. Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI)
C. Mental and Sexual Health
III. Activism and Community Involvement
A. Militant and Associative Affiliations
B. Familiarity with LGBTQIA+ rights organizations and groups
C. Interaction with LGBTQIA+ rights organizations and groups
D. LGBTQIA+ Rights movement objectives and goals
