Lalla Batoul Benaîssa
Lalla Batoul Benaîssa (Arabic: لالة بتول بن عيسى) is believed to be the first woman in modern Morocco to have been imprisoned for political reasons. In 1910, she was jailed and tortured by Sultan Abdelhafid as the wife of El-Bacha Benaïssa, the Governor of Fez and one of the principal aides of his brother Abdelaziz, whom he had overthrown in 1908.
Quotes
[edit]- The man and the woman enjoy, in equality, the rights and freedoms of civil, political, economic, social, cultural and environmental character, enounced in this Title and in the other provisions of the Constitution, as well as in the international conventions and pacts duly ratified by Morocco and this, with respect for the provisions of the Constitution, of the constants of the Kingdom and of its laws. The State works for the realization of parity between men and women. An Authority for parity and the struggle against all forms of discrimination is created, to this effect.
- Moroccan women’s battle for their rights has been an uphill one. Yet, they fought it with valor, steadfastness and self-abnegation.
- Lack of public housing, poverty, illiteracy, street violence, rape, lack of opportunities and entrenched corruption are all aspects of the Morocco that Oum Hamza is fighting against.
- This type of grievance cannot be resolved by legislation only or by paying lip service to women’s rights in the most solemn of ways. The resolution of these issues requires realpolitik and practical results.
