/ Ligue Démocratique pour les Droits de la Femme
The Moroccan NGO, 'Ligue Démocratique pour les Droits de la Femme' (LDDF), was founded in 1993 and has 13'000 members. The organisation works to improve gender equality, and to counter the discrimination of women. The LDDF supports women with training and counseling programs, enabling them to make informed decisions and insist that their rights should be respected. cfd supports counseling centers for women in three Moroccan cities: Casablanca, Marrakesh and Beni Mellal.
Implementing the New Family Law
The LDDF is prominently active for the reformed Family Law. This new set of laws came into effect in 2004 and has significantly improved the legal situation of women. Women can more easily file for divorce, and they are no longer legally obliged to obey their husbands. However, many of these improvements remain little known or practiced. Due to the high rate of illiteracy, it is difficult to communicate the new laws to the general public. Very often, judges and lawyers do not adequately inform women of their rights. With counseling and education, the LDDF supports women, enabling them to make informed decisions and to demand that their rights be respected. Besides this, the LDDF continuously interacts with the local authorities, judges and lawyers.
Counseling and Legal Empowerment
In fourteen regional counseling centers, the LDDF offers legal advice, courses in alphabetisation, discussion groups, as well as psychological and social counseling. It also supports women who are victims of discrimination and violence. To ensure a lasting improvement of the situation of these women, the staff of LDDF include other family members in the discussions, and work closely with the local authorities. The LDDF also organises 'Caravans for the Rights of Women', passing through even remote villages and underprivileged areas of the towns, giving women direct and locally specific information about their rights. In the counseling centers of the LDDF, daily experience clearly shows how little the new law is practiced.
Centre d'Information et d'Observation
In order to be effective on a political level, the LDDF systematically monitors and documents legal practice. The information gathered in the regional counseling centers is kept in the 'Centre d'Infomation et d'Observation des Femmes Marocaines' in Casablanca, where it is analysed, evaluated and published in reports on violence and breaches of law, in particular against women. This work is fundamental to monitoring legal practice, lobbying with the authorities, and training professionals in various fields.
