Record numbers of Moroccan women lawyers in professional elections

Attendees at the Regional Meeting Violence Against Women: Law Enforcement and Jurisprudence , Casablanca , 2019

More women than are putting themselves forward to elections in Morocco’s legal profession than ever before, but the number succeeding remains low.

Nearly a quarter of candidates in the recent elections to professional chambers were women, a near five-fold increase since 2015, when women represented just over 5 percent of candidates.

In total 3,055 women stood in the elections, or 24.35 percent of the field. However, of these only 171 women candidates were successful, representing just 7.67 percent of elected candidates.

We congratulate all women candidates who stood in the elections. It is encouraging that so many more women are putting themselves forward. 

The legal sector must be properly representative of the society it serves. To ensure that woman are able to seek careers in the sector free from discrimination, we suggest that jurists, professional bodies, and relevant authorities in Morocco explore why it is that women candidates are not succeeding at the same rate as their male counterparts, and how this situation can be remedied.