The Court of First Instance No. 5 in Ceuta has begun the trial of two Ceuta police officers, accused of abuse of power, after they were seen abusing three women living in the city, one of whom was a minor, with dual Moroccan and Spanish nationality, during their celebration of the Moroccan national team’s victory over Portugal in the World Cup semi-final last December.

The court decided to send the two officers to trial on the basis of the results of the investigation, which it said it had opened about two months ago, immediately after cameras filmed Spanish police officers abusing fans who had gathered in one of Ceuta’s squares carrying Moroccan flags to celebrate the Moroccan national team’s qualification for the World Cup semi-finals for the first time in its history, on 10 December 2022.

The Spanish public prosecutor’s office asked that one of the following police officers be required to pay compensation to the victims, an officer of the rapid intervention unit, because of his “excesses” in the use of the authority granted to him, after he was filmed by cameras beating the complainants with a truncheon, while the defence of the two police officers considered that it was a matter of “self-defence” and the use of force “within the limits of the law”.

The court summoned 3 policemen for the trial, one of them as a witness, who stated that they were to give instructions to the rapid intervention elements to clear “La Constitution” square of about 50 people who were celebrating Morocco’s victory in the World Cup, in order to allow regular traffic, but the revellers verbally attacked them and chanted aggressive phrases.

The police admitted using their truncheons against two women and a minor girl, arguing that they prevented their officers from carrying out identification procedures on a man who was documenting their actions with a mobile phone, considering that the use of blows was a “last resort” and was used in a “proportionate manner and in accordance with the protocols regulating the use of blows”, with the strikes being directed at the area of the buttocks and thighs.

As the case became a matter of public opinion due to the targeting of women carrying Moroccan flags in the heart of Ceuta, the victims’ defence filed a complaint with the Spanish prosecutor in charge of violence against women, which led to the opening of a judicial investigation and the summoning of the police officers appearing in the video to listen to them.

The post Spanish court condemns police violence against Moroccan women celebrating the national team appeared first on Morocco Telegraph.

The awards ceremony, which was graced by Queen Mathilde of Belgium’s attendance, was held in Brussels and honored the young Moroccan women entrepreneurs.

For winning the coveted Awa Entrepreneurship Prize for women entrepreneurs on Thursday, Rim Machhour and Safae Bennouna made headlines in Morocco and Europe.

Safae Bennouna finished third in the “scale up” category, while Machhour took top place in the “innovation” category.

Machhour co-founded Dealkhir.ma, an e-commerce platform with a charitable goal, and holds a master’s degree in social innovation. The site donates NGOs 70% of its profits.
Bennouna, on the other hand, is the creator of Hedo, a line of women’s clothing that works with local makers.

On January 26, Queen Mathilde of Belgium attended a ceremony in Brussels when the young Moroccan women entrepreneurs received their awards.

The Awa Entrepreneurship Prize is a program of the Belgian Development Agency (Enabel) that recognizes female business owners in the cooperating nations of Belgium.
More than 2,400 applicants from 16 countries submitted their concepts this year, and the winning ones were chosen.

https://twitter.com/belgiquemaroc/status/1618901112253452294?s=46&t=8wpZoQT7HwsjRADTrr7pKQ

The Awa Award “aims to reward influential firms and women entrepreneurs who are role models for their communities,” according to Enabel.

According to a story from the Brussels Times, Caroline Gennez, Belgian Minister of Development Cooperation and of Major Cities, described the Awa Prize winners as “all remarkable role models.” “I have the utmost respect for their tenacity, imagination, and bravery. Numerous girls and women in their own communities will be inspired by them to follow in their footsteps.

Read Also: Joy Awards: Achraf Hakimi voted best Arab sportsman of the year

The post Two Moroccan women won Awa Entrepreneurship Prize in Brussels appeared first on Morocco Telegraph.

During the past couple of years, the whole world lived a reality like no other. Since 2020, people were holding their breath trying to figure out how to stay safe while trying to manage a different new lifestyle titled with social isolation, financial pressure, a novel Covid-19-related glossary, and an increase in mental health problems. The virus that stopped the ongoing life of an entire planet managed to apply a change on many different levels, yet it could not affect the significance of being a woman or a girl in a time of crisis. The “female resilience journey during the covid-19 crisis”, as the British Council in Morocco called it, manifested the powerful leadership skills women have and how mothers can shoulder the extra burden, especially if the case is a working mother.

The International Women’s Day website mentioned that “there is something incredibly powerful about sharing the journey of women”, let alone the journey of millions of women during a global pandemic, showing up too many essential jobs and being in the front line while the world was in lockdown.

Remote work was a common resolution to overcome the effects of the coronavirus, yet for women, it was not an ideal situation, particularly for mothers. Employed mothers who were working from home during the pandemic were tremendously tenacious and reliable, though it is not an easy thing to do.

António Guterres, the United Nations secretary-general, said in a message on International Women’s Day: “We celebrate women and girls everywhere. We celebrate their contributions to ending the COVID-19 pandemic. Their ideas, innovations, and activism that are changing our world for the better. And their leadership across all walks of life.”

Moroccan women played a significant role in the response to combating the Covid-19 pandemic. According to UN Women, women account for 57% of medical staff, 66% of paramedical staff, and 64% of social sector civil servants. This shows how vital is the part that women play in Moroccan society which was obvious during the pandemic.

Sarah Kaddour, a dentist who works in a clinic in Casablanca, told her three-times-covid-positive story to SNRTnews. Being amongst a medical staff during a pandemic undoubtedly doubles the pressure, but the fact that she had the coronavirus three times made her even more terrified and more cautious. Kaddour was worried to infect her family members which led to her following a strict social distancing protocol. She said that due to being a doctor, she became committed to being an ideal example when it comes to following precautionary measures. For her, these past couple of years were filled with stress.

During the pandemic, Maimouna Amidan from Dakhla founded a social work center called Taiba to help women integrate into society in a time of crisis. Amidan explained to Le360 in an interview that one of the main causes to establish this center was the unpleasant reality women lived in which was unveiled by the covid-19 pandemic. Taiba is a center that helps women from different ages greatly enhance their part in their community and give consultancy to women who were victims of abuse. Aicha is an old widowed mother of six unemployed children, she tried to find a job to save herself and her kids from poverty in the pandemic, yet she did not find one. In her interview with Alhurra, Aicha explained how she had no solution but to sell homemade bread in the streets so she can feed her children and avoid the social and economic effects of the pandemic.

The Covid-19 pandemic represents a period that emphasized the important role of Moroccan women in a time of crisis, yet it also exposed the truth about women’s rights in real life and how these rights are largely ignored. As António Guterres said: “We cannot emerge from the pandemic with the clock spinning backwards on gender equality. We need to turn the clock forward on women’s rights. The time is now.”

The post Women in times of crisis: The Covid-19 pandemic appeared first on Morocco Telegraph.