Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Women

Sex education in Morocco? There’s an app for that.

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Every Saturday, 20 young Moroccans meet in Rabat’s El Youssoufia neighborhood to learn about sex and sexuality. The meeting is organized by OPALS Maroc, a nonprofit fighting the spread of HIV and AIDS in Morocco. Photo by Ella Feldman.

Last updated December 2019.

RABAT, Morocco — Like many Moroccan teenagers might, 16-year-old Boutaina Gouzden and her friends spent a recent Saturday morning taking an online quiz. But rather than inquire about favorite colors and dream vacations, this quiz asked questions like, “Is it risky to kiss my partner lovingly if they are HIV-positive?”

When that question was projected on the white screen before her, Gouzden shot her hand up immediately, a proud smile spreading across her face.

Virginity Certificates Persist in Morocco Despite Calls to End a Discriminatory Practice

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Photo: Two Moroccan women walk in Oulad Teima, a small town in southern Morocco, where they work in the women’s club. Both obtained virginity certificates when they were younger. They asked to remain anonymous to protect their privacy. Photo by Naomi Miyamoto for Reporting Morocco.

By Lexi Reich

Bouchra, 20, took her “virginity test” when she was only 14, six months before her wedding night. Terrified of the result, tears fell down her cheeks when the doctor instructed her to spread open her legs at a hospital in Boujdour, southern Morocco.

News Roundup: Police Violence Video in Western Sahara; Nawal Benaissa Speaks in Amsterdam; Morocco Withdraws Ambassador to UAE

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Photo Credit: Reuters.

March 23, 2020.

Three stories you need to read today. Compiled and broken down for you by Reporting Morocco student journalists — every day. Brought to you from the School for International Training’s journalism program, Rabat.

Video contradicts Morocco’s justification of a brutal beating in Western Sahara

Source: The Washington Post

Lede/Introduction: The Fact Checker video team launched a three-part miniseries focused on stories from around the world where information online affected communities and people in real life.

Our final installment brings us to the disputed African territory of Western Sahara, where a video contradicts the Moroccan government’s justification for a brutal beating of two men.

News Roundup: Corona Updates; Moroccan Businesswoman Wins French Prize; Morocco Receives Rocket Launcher from China

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By: Aviva Rosenberg

Photo Credit: MAP.

March 11, 2020.

Three stories you need to read today. Compiled and broken down for you by Reporting Morocco student journalists — every day. Brought to you from the School for International Training’s journalism program, Rabat.

Morocco Announces 2 New Coronavirus Cases, 5 in Total

Source: Morocco World News

Lede: Morocco’s Health Ministry confirmed two more cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) on Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases in the country to five.

Key Background: The new patients are the wife and daughter of the French tourist who became the country’s third confirmed case of the virus on March 10. 

News Roundup: Coronavirus; Cannabis; Virginity testing

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Photo credit: AFP. 

March 3, 2020.

Three stories you need to read today. Compiled and broken down for you by Reporting Morocco student journalists — every day. Brought to you from the School for International Training’s journalism program, Rabat.

Morocco declares first case of coronavirus

Source: Middle East Eye

Lede: Morocco has reported its first case of coronavirus as the illness continues to spread across the Middle East and North Africa.

The health ministry said the virus had been detected in a Moroccan man living in Italy who had returned to his home country.

News Roundup: Morocco Boosts Anti-Smuggling Measures; German Terrorist Calls for “Elimination” of Certain Countries; Moroccan-Belgian Writer Wins Literary Award

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Photo Credit: Koen Broos.

February 24, 2020. Three stories you need to read today. Compiled and broken down for you by Reporting Morocco student journalists — every day. Brought to you from the School for International Training’s journalism program, Rabat.

Morocco to Boost Anti-Smuggling Measures amid Frustration from Ceuta, Melilla

Source: Morocco World News

Lede: General director of Moroccan customs Nabyl Lakhdar confirmed that Morocco will continue to strengthen anti-smuggling regulations amid deep concerns from Spanish enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta.

Key Background: In an interview with EFE, Lakhdar said  the decision was due to complaints that the customs office continues to receive from the  trade operators in the country due to “unfair competitions” caused by products from Ceuta and Melilla.

News Roundup: Court Orders Man to Return to Wife; Algerian President Accuses Moroccan-French Lobby; Morocco Rejects Claims of Human Rights Abuse

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Photo Credit: Moroccan World News.

February 20, 2020.

Three stories you need to read today. Compiled and broken down for you by Reporting Morocco student journalists — every day. Brought to you from the School for International Training’s journalism program, Rabat.

Moroccan Court Orders Man to Return to His Wife

Source: Morocco World News

Lede: In an unprecedented decision, the Marrakech court of first instance ordered a Moroccan man to return to his wife. 

Key Background: A Moroccan mother of three took legal action against her husband after he left their marital home.

News Roundup: Closure of Ceuta & Melilla Borders; Maternal Deaths Declining; Middle Class Initiative

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Photo credit: AFP

February 18, 2020

Three stories you need to read today. Compiled and broken down for you by Reporting Morocco student journalists–every day. Brought to you from the School for International Training’s journalism program, Rabat.

Closure of Borders Exposes Ceuta, Melilla Dependence on Morocco

Source: Morocco World News

Lede: Essaouira – The autonomous government of Ceuta has called a meeting on Monday, January 17, with the government of Melilla to come up with an action plan to “respond energetically” to the “pressure” Morocco is putting on the two enclaves to “suffocate their economies,” according to a statement from the spokesperson for the government of Ceuta, Alberto Gaitan.

News Round-Up: Western Sahara Exports; Call for Repatriation of Families; Northern Dam Proposal

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Photo Credit DR/Yabilada

EU: Exports from Western Sahara Remain Under Morocco Umbrella

Morocco World News

Lede: The European Union (EU) has denied rumors that it will ban Morocco from exporting products from the southern region of Western Sahara to European states.

Key Background: The union will apply the same standards to all imports into the European market from all countries and territories, including Morocco’s Western Sahara.

Why this is newsworthy: The question of how products exported from the Western Sahara will be labeled has been a recent point of focus. This latest statement by the EU reaffirms not only Moroccan sovereignty over Western Saharan exports, but also over the territory itself.

Marrakesh Mother’s Nonprofit Empowers Women

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by Rachel Berets

MARRAKESH, MOROCCO—While her own newborn baby slept soundly inside, Nora Fitzgerald found a baby girl, wrapped only in a blanket, abandoned on her doorstep. She brought the baby inside and called the authorities, who took the child away a few hours later. But the next day, Fitzgerald wondered if she had made the right decision. “What if I was supposed to take her?” she asked herself.

“I spent the next day looking in all the orphanages and I couldn’t find her,” Fitzgerald said. “I don’t know what happened to her, I just prayed that she was OK.”

This innate sense of personal responsibility would ultimately lead Fitzgerald to found Amal, a nonprofit restaurant that teaches single mothers and other disadvantaged women practical skills so they can find jobs and provide for themselves, their children and their families. 

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