Hanan Harat

Morocco-In the context of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign, the discussion in Morocco is renewed around invisible forms of violence. These go beyond physical and psychological harm to include economic and legislative violence. Among the most prominent of these is inheritance discrimination, which divides society between those who see it as a religious obligation and those who consider it an obstacle to achieving equality and economic justice.

Despite legal reforms, women face significant challenges in accessing collective tribal lands—ancestral communal lands that form the backbone of rural economic life and a primary source of family income. In most cases, these lands are traditionally managed by men, while women are denied ownership or usufruct rights, despite their daily contributions to agricultural work.

Under pressure from women’s and human rights movements, Morocco adopted legal reforms allowing women to benefit from collective lands. This step aligns with the 2011 Constitution and the Sustainable Development Goals, which call for eliminating discrimination and promoting economic justice. These reforms enabled Fatima Zahra Al-Alawi, a Moroccan woman, to claim her share of these lands. She says, “I always saw men making all decisions about the land, while we women were left out. But after the new law, I received my share.”

Nevertheless, most women have yet to benefit from this law. Data reveal a significant gap between legal texts and field reality; according to unofficial estimates, women in Morocco own no more than 2.5% of arable agricultural land.

Legal Gains and Implementation Challenges

As part of recent legal reforms, Morocco adopted Law No. 62‑17 concerning the administrative supervision of collective tribal lands and their communal properties. This law guarantees women the right to benefit from collective lands and to participate in representative bodies of the community on an equal footing with men.

The law aims to reduce the historical discrimination that deprived women of these essential economic resources. It represents an important legal step toward promoting gender equality and linking legal reform to participation in local development. However, practical challenges remain: many women face difficulties in registering or benefiting from communal lands due to tribal customs, practices of some local officials, and the “residency” criterion used to determine community membership.

Human rights reports indicate that the law’s implementation still varies across communities, highlighting the gap between legal rights and field reality. Thus, this reform constitutes a partial victory for women in collective land management: it grants legal equality, yet also underscores the need to monitor implementation and ensure women genuinely access these resources, transforming legal equality into real economic empowerment.

 

Economic and Social Dimension of Inequality

Inheritance disparities over time emerge as a structural factor producing poverty and vulnerability among women. Owning land or property in Moroccan society does not merely mean access to livelihood; it also represents economic and symbolic power, ensuring stability and participation in family and community decision-making.

This cumulative inequality reduces women’s share of family wealth to as little as 1% after five generations, further widening the gender gap in accessing resources.

Driven by growing women’s movements worldwide and particularly in North Africa, Morocco’s experience in inheritance law reform reflects efforts to strengthen women’s rights and reduce gender disparities. In comparison, Tunisia allows women to participate equally with men in certain forms of inheritance, Algeria limits traditional allocations of communal lands to ensure minimum shares for women, while in Lebanon and Jordan, social customs continue to severely restrict women’s ability to fully benefit from inheritance.

 

“Women inherit only alms from wealth”

In this context, women’s rights activist Maria Sharaf highlighted the shocking reality of the absence of true inheritance equality:

"In reality, what we live today is the absence of genuine equality in inheritance. Both the law and social practices mean women receive only half of what men inherit, as if their value or responsibilities within the family are lower."

She added, "When examining the issue across generations, it becomes clear that the problem is not limited to receiving half a share; it transforms into a massive gap in accumulated family wealth. Suppose a family owns farmland or a house. If women receive only half of what their brothers inherit each generation, their share gradually diminishes. After approximately five generations, women are left with just 1% of the original family wealth."

Sharaf emphasized that this is not merely a theoretical calculation: "In practice, women own only around 2.5% of arable farmland in Morocco. This number reflects a painful reality: land is the foundation of wealth in rural areas, and without land, women lack economic power and social voice."

She described the situation as resembling almsgiving rather than rights: "Society, and even the state indirectly, grant women only what resembles 'alms' from national wealth, while actual control over resources and ownership remains with men."

Sharaf concludes that "the issue is not only about inheritance but a whole system that reproduces inequality generation after generation, keeping women in a position of economic vulnerability. Therefore, inheritance equality is not merely a legal demand but a necessary step to end a deep form of structural violence against women