The Council of Europe and the Presidency of the Moroccan Public Prosecution Office organised on 16 and 17 June in Tangier, an activity for the benefit of fifty public prosecutors aimed at strengthening the role of the Public Prosecutor's Office in the fight against violence in against women and domestic violence.  

The opening session was held in the presence of Mr. El Hassan Daki, General prosecutor at the Court of Cassation-President of the Moroccan Public Prosecution Office, Mr. Jean Christophe Filori, Head of Cooperation within the Delegation of the European Union in Morocco and Mrs Carmen Morte Gomez, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Morocco.

This activity follows 8 similar training sessions held since December 2019, which have trained 380 magistrates and deepened their approach related to this issue at the level of the judicial chain, as well as their knowledge of national and international standards and the best applicable practices. These activities are also part of the implementation of Law 103-13 on fighting violence against women, Law 13-2012 determining the conditions of domestic work and the efforts of the Moroccan Public Prosecutor's Office in the fight against underage marriage. 

In its 2019 annual report published in early 2021, the Presidency of the Public Ministry notes that violence against women increased by 11% between 2018 and 2019, i.e. 19 617 abused women, having led to more than 19,000 cases and the prosecution of 20 355. persons. Of these, 36 relate to intentional homicides, 886 to rape, 1 574 to threats and 6 573 to violence leading to incapacity for less than 20 days.

Acts of cyberviolence have also increased during the period of confinement. According to a survey conducted by the Higher Commissioner for Planning (HCP), nearly 1.5 million women in Morocco (prevalence rate of 14%) are victims of digital violence through e-mails, telephone calls, SMS.

The theoretical and practical working sessions mobilised experienced experts from Morocco and from the Council of Europe and were based on the relevant national and international standards, in particular the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) and other relevant international conventions. Declining the various aspects related to prevention, the protection of minor girls and in the digital environment as well as the territorial protocol for the care of women victims of violence, these sessions also presented the relevant national case-law and the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights as well as existing practices in some Council of Europe member states and appropriate programs and tools.

This workshop is part of the Council of Europe's Neighbourhood Partnership with Morocco 2022-2025 and is supported by the European Union Technical Assistance Programme for Equality.