Orphans In Morocco, A Documentary

NEWS

12/18/12

Over the last few months a number of stories about the crisis in the orphanages in Morocco were published by international media. There were  also reports on a proclamation by the current Islamist government that seems set to hinder progress - the stopping of foreign adoptions, including Moroccans living abroad. But this is an issue that will not go away until concrete steps are taken to bring Morocco into the modern world where adoption is seen as an act of compassion, not a problem to be eradicated. Assisting this process are activists, some more enlightened politicians and hundreds of thousands of Moroccan women. And now a new film will add weight to the calls for change.

The documentary, BASTARDS, is about illegitimate children and the fathers who abandon them. By following single mothers fighting for justice, the documentary addresses big social issues through small human stories….heart-warming and heart-breaking stories captured in the raw, as Moroccan men and women clash about sex, children, marriage and money. It's a surprising contemporary documentary that touches anyone who has loved or been betrayed. The filmmaker is Deborah Perkin

THE OUTCASTS

In the West, a documentary about single mothers, and children abandoned by their fathers is no big deal, but in Muslim countries, where unmarried sex is illegal, the stakes are incredibly high. This timely film captures stories from the cutting edge of Islam.

Illegitimate children in Morocco are outcasts, non people, bastards ... but recent legal reforms give single mothers the right to register their children, either alone, or by persuading the father to recognise the child in court. Registration on the state birth register means access to education and health care, and a respectable position in society. BASTARDS follows single mothers battling for these rights for their children.

THE ACCESS

The radical Casablanca charity L'Association Solidarite Feminine opened its case files to us, and the Moroccan Ministry of Justice granted unprecedented access to film in the Agadir courts. The production team Deborah Perkin (former BBC Senior Producer) and Nora Fakim (former BBC Morocco Correspondent) lived in a Casablanca slum for two months to be amongst the single mothers they were filming. This is a rare glimpse into a hidden world.

In most Muslim countries a documentary like BASTARDS would be unthinkable....but thanks to brave campaigners and a socially tolerant king, Morocco has led the way in social and legal reforms that help single mothers and their illegitimate children to secure a future.
 

Rabha El Haymar with her daughter Salma and lawyer Lamia Faridi, and Producer/Director Deborah Perkin, at the Appeal Court in Agadir

THE STORIES AND  CHARACTERS

Rabha El Haymar’s story is the spine of the film. She is a single mother and her daughter is illegitimate because under Morocco's family law reforms, her traditional marriage as a child bride was not legal. She battles through the courts to legalise the marriage, to register her daughter and to force the father to accept his child. We witness extraordinary scenes.… the courtroom lies of her child’s father, verbal abuse from her child's grandfather, Rabha's confrontation with her mother asking why she married her off so young, and finally her triumph in the courts.

Along the way, we also meet larger-than-life Fatiha, tirelessly pressing the father of her child for maintenance, law student Naim, a young man who is distressed about growing up with the shame of illegitimacy, Saida who was rejected by her family and almost gave birth at a police station, and Kultum who is too young to be a mother following her rape, and is struggling with the responsibility.

L'Association Solidarite Feminine's founder Aicha Chenna has given her working life to supporting single mothers to bring up their children with dignity. Her tireless campaigning has gradually changed social and legal attitudes. In BASTARDS we meet her and her equally feisty female colleagues, the social workers and lawyers who work on the frontline with single mothers.
 

From left: Loubaba El Imlahi, Hafida Elbaz and Aicha Chenna with Researcher and Assistant Producer Nora Fakim

THE ISSUES

Sex outside marriage may be illegal in Muslim countries but that doesn’t stop it happening. Inevitably, without sex education, or easy access to contraception or to legal abortion, unwanted illegitimate babies are born. With 6500 babies abandoned every year, Morocco faces a crisis, but instead of taking a punitive approach, it encourages single parents to be reconciled and their children to be legitimised. Radical reforms in 2004 to its family law code, the Moudawana, put Morocco at the forefront of developing human rights for single mothers and their illegitimate children. You can read an English translation of the Moudawana here.

WHY DID I MAKE THIS DOCUMENTARY?

Deborah Perkin explains:  I wouldn't pretend that I predicted the Arab Spring, but in 2009 I did work out that Morocco was pushing ahead with democratic reforms and that something interesting was happening in Muslim North Africa. It all started with a holiday with my mum. We had a tour of Morocco and found that everywhere we went women wanted to talk to us, take photos with us, ask us what we thought of their country. This was a completely different experience from traveling in the other Muslim countries we had visited, where women were much less visible in the workforce and on the streets. And so began my passion for Morocco and its people, which led to me putting my all into making this documentary.

When I got home I searched the internet and discovered that Morocco had many women's rights and human rights organizations. They had campaigned for legal reforms which eventually became law in 2004, amending the Family Code, the Moudawana. Child marriages were outlawed with the age of sexual consent for men and women set at 18, polygamy was virtually outlawed, and women's child custody rights improved. Single mothers could register their children alone, choosing a father's surname from a state list if the father refused to give the child his name - and once registered, children are entitled to education and healthcare.

I didn't want to make an issue-based report on legal reform but a moving documentary showing personal stories of women using the new law. Eventually I found Aicha Chenna and L'Association Solidarite Feminine. She and her staff welcomed me in to their radical charity, set up in the face of death threats from conservative Islamists, but working all the time to reintegrate single mothers into society, and make sure their illegitimate children have the best possible start in life. Their work became my obsession. I had to make a documentary with them and the women they support.

Article Previously published by View From Fez

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Comments (8)  

 

0 #1 RE: Orphans In Morocco, A Documentary — mbt 2012-12-19 15:32

BASTARDS is appropriate and says a lot about both sides. And how nicely put about Moroccan men and women, it is all about sex, children, marriage, money and one more thing, power.

The children are innocent though.

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0 #2 RE: Orphans In Morocco, A Documentary — btayta 2012-12-19 15:37

Life in Morocco has no value. Women in Morocco are considered worthless outside marriage, Men in Morocco cannot rid themselves of their ancestors' macho mentality. Men in Morocco can rape a woman and the law is with him. He simply needs to ask for her hand to avoid punishment.

When a woman has sex with man in Morocco, it's always considered that it is her fault, she should have stayed home with her parents washing dishes and watching Guadalupe series.

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+1 #3 RE: Orphans In Morocco, A Documentary — Vanessa 2012-12-19 16:20

In 2009, I was a volunteer at an orphanage in Rabat. It was heartbreaking to see the poor, little abandoned babies. I fell in love with one little baby boy who was only six months old. I wish I could have taken him back to Australia with me. Three years later, I am in a loving relationship with a man and we would dearly love to have children but can't. Very few local children are adopted within Australia because mothers are encouraged to keep their children. There are many legal obstacles if we wish to adopt from overseas. Our government does not encourage adoption. Many childless couples in Australia would be willing to adopt Moroccan children. However, the majority of Australians are not Muslim and there is also no inter-country agreement in place.

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0 #4 RE: Orphans In Morocco, A Documentary — Aicha Benzakri 2012-12-19 18:55

[fv]Thanks to western people for making the world know Morocco in depth and project a positive image about Moroccan women and their abilities[/fv]

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0 #5 RE: Orphans In Morocco, A Documentary — Morcelli 2012-12-20 14:12

One thing to retain from this article is that the moudawana has given rights to women, the sad part is that women in the country side and the slams especially are not aware of their rights. If they don't have anyone who is willing to help them interpret the law, this law will simply remain ink on paper.

While the moudawana is a a step in the right the direction, I had wished that the authorities in Morocco would provide some sort of "Public defendant" to women who need help. This will create more jobs for those who demonstrate on a daily basis in front of the parliament.

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0 #6 RE: Orphans In Morocco, A Documentary — mbt 2012-12-20 15:44

Sorry Aicha it takes a western eyes to highlight the problem that Morocco faces within its society and it is a real social problem at that. Only now, openly, the Moroccan TV presenters are wearing Aids ribbon, yet the problem of sexual promiscuity is seen but hushed and not talked about or tackled full head on. The irony is that the Aids roadshows included young women wearing tight jeans, dancing etc and yet bringing young people together which does nothing to dampen the ardor of young men and women. So much for Aids awareness much more like sexual arousal.

Interesting the producer of the BASTARDS is seeking crowdfunding, I wonder how many of us would come forward? kickstarter.com/.../...

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0 #7 RE: Orphans In Morocco, A Documentary — Imane bentaouet 2012-12-21 16:44

[fv]Documentary [/fv]

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0 #8 About Single Mothers in Morocco. — Sherri Nonnemacher 2013-04-18 12:26

I just have to say, i am not sure why it is an issue in any country, the child should be registered with a name weather given only his mothers last name or his fathers last name. If there is no father to sign papers so give the child the mothers last name and only list her on the birth certificate. Because the only one who knows for sure who is the father is God and the Mother. Even a woman who is married, there is no way to know for sure that husband is the father, only his wife knows this for sure, and God. People have been known to have affairs. The only sure thing for certain is who the mother is when the child is born. So Even those who are married it is not 100% certain that the child has the husband as the father. Its not like the wife is going to say oh yeah i had sex with your brother or your cousin or the neighbor so he might be the father, no of course not. So there is always a small chance of even a husband not being the father. So this should not be an issue even in an Islamic country like Morocco. I too am a Muslim, but these children really need to have documentation and a name.

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