RABAT — A group of women in Morocco launched an unprecedented campaign calling for a beach reserved exclusively for women in the city of Tangier.
On their Facebook page, the campaigners announced that they will officially demand from the authorities on Aug. 30 a women-only section from the “large” beach to swim “in conformity with Islamic legislations as Islam prohibits women to show parts of their body in public.”
The request has sparked a heated debate on the social network, with many comments supporting the request, arguing that there are many miles of vacant coastline in Tangier.
Here are some comments that can be read in their Facebook’s account:
* “Like men, we (women) also need a private place to cool off during the scorching summer months, without mixing with men.”
* “Sexual harassment is alarmingly increasing even in the streets — let alone beaches- women need a women-only beach to swim carefree.”
* “Mixing men and women is not accepted in the customs of the Tangier, which was and is still a conservative city that still separates men and women even in parties and wedding ceremonies”
However, other Moroccans criticized the request and consider that it perpetuates intolerance and pushes segregationist policies such as those enforced by the Daesh (the so-called IS) group.
In Morocco, where there is no common precedent for gender separation, it is common to see a variety of “swimwear” on co-ed beaches, such as women in bikinis and others dressed in “Burkinis”.
Morocco’s security services have stepped up their surveillance of domestic militant cells and swamped holiday resorts with armed police as the country went on high alert after June's beach massacre in Tunisia.
Tourism, which has increased by at least 8 per cent since 2010, is one of Morocco’s most important industries, accounting for 9 per cent of GDP, and the authorities are keen to protect it. More than half a million Britons visit the country every year, the second biggest group of visitors after the French. — Al Arabiya News
