A parliamentary commission in Morocco has unanimously recommended a new family code putting wives on a more equal footing with their husbands, officials said on Thursday.
Under the new law, which still has to go to the House of Representatives and to the Senate for approval, the legal age at which girls can marry will be raised from 15 to 18 and wives will be given “joint responsibility” with their husbands in family matters.
Polygamy will be permitted only under highly restrictive conditions and the new code also makes it more difficult for men to divorce their wives.
The parliamentary commission debated the new code for one month, studying 110 amendments to it, commission leader Abdallah Baha said in a statement.
Many of the amendments brought by the Islamic Justice and Development Party concerned the wording of the text, while parties from the governing coalition had proposed “constructive amendments”, according to the head of the socialist grouping on the commission.
King Mohammed VI had urged a revision of the old code, under which Moroccan women were seen as perpetual minors, under the authority of men, according to women’s groups.
“The king’s speech [of October 10] served as a reference for discussions during the commission’s work,” said Baha, without going into detail.
In his speech in October, Mohammed outlined the main principles of the proposed revised code, saying the suggested amendments were in line with the tenets of Islam. — AFP