By Hassan Al-Ashraf
A growing number of Moroccan women -- even those who wear the veil -- have begun to take boyfriends in the hopes of getting married, but experts warn the "illicit" love affairs are hurting their chances, not helping.
Zouhour, a veiled 34-year-old Moroccan woman, says she is not willing to stay at home and wait for a marriage proposal while she endures harsh remarks or looks of pity from friends and family. She says she tries to establish friendships and even sexual relations with men of her age, hoping that she will be promoted to "the rank of a wife." "This is very normal… not a fling or a one night stand," Zouhour said. "It's a basic psychological and social urge." Experts say the phenomenon is the result of a rising spinsterhood rate and the decline in the marriage rate in Morocco.
According to the government's Royal Commission for Planning, the percentage of unmarried women between the ages of 15 and 24 is almost 100%, whereas the average age at the time of marriage rose to 28 for women and 31 for men. Communication specialist, Dr. Nagi El-Amgad, says veiled women fear spinsterhood more than unveiled ones because they think the latter have better chances of finding a husband.
But Moroccan sociologist Abdel-Rahman El-Mallah warns that veiled women's involvement in "illicit" love affairs gives society a wrong impression about veiled women in general. "As more veiled women are involved in relationships outside marriage, the crimes of fornication are on the rise. The veil no longer becomes a deterrent," he said. "The idea of the veil is robbed of the dignity and purity it should stand for," he said. "Consequently, 'decent' veiled women have been wrongly accused of decadence, and men no longer propose."
Dr. Mohamed Bolouz, an Islamic preacher and educational inspector in Rabat, considers dating "an infiltration of non-Muslim traditions" caused by "too much mingling between the sexes—a habit imported from the West."
Moroccan parents, he says, warn their teenaged daughters of the dangers of sex, but rarely emphasize the religious framework within which it could be permitted.
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