The prevalence and forms of violence against women in Morocco: an analysis of national surveys and reports from 2009 to 2020

Violence Against Women (VAW) remains a significant challenge in Morocco despite major advances in legislative framework and policy initiatives. This study aims to investigate the trends of VAW in Morocco including its forms, contexts in which it occurs and the socio-demographic characteristics of survivors over a 10-year period from 2009 to 2020. We conducted an online search for official publicly available, open access national reports and surveys about VAW in Morocco, published in the period between 2009 and 2020. We extracted data on prevalence of VAW, profiles of the survivors, forms of violence and the contexts in which it occured. Results were presented separately for facility-based reports and population-based surveys. Across all five reports (three population-based and two facility-based) the estimated prevalence of VAW remained consistently high, exceeding 50% throughout the 2009–2019 period. In population-based surveys, overall prevalence decreased slightly from 62.8% in 2009 to 57.0% in 2019. Facility-based reports showed comparable levels, with one survey reporting a prevalence of 58.2%. Higher rates of VAW were reported among younger women (< 25 years), married women, and women with higher education levels. Psychological violence was the most common form, reaching 95.8% among non-single women in 2018, followed by physical violence, while sexual violence remained consistently low. Economic violence ranged between 7.9% and 15.7% across the 2009–2019 period but rose sharply to 31.9% in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Marital violence was the most reported context across all surveys, accounting for up to 46.1% of cases in population-based data in 2019 and over 80% in facility-based studies. Extra-marital violence and violence in public spaces both showed a declining trend between 2009 and 2019. Despite legislative advancements, violence against women remains a complex issue in Morocco, with a considerably high prevalence, thus requiring sustained efforts to address this issue comprehensively. Education and empowerment initiatives, alongside strengthening the implementation of existing laws and legal frameworks and addressing barriers to reporting, are crucial for combating VAW effectively in Morocco.