Story of the Day

THE VIEW FROM FEZ: Women dumped in Morocco?

The View from Fez carries a chilling story about women who are abandoned in Morocco when their husbands or fathers return to Europe. About 20 or 30 women are abandoned each year.

One thing that is particularly interesting about this story is that it crosses the fault lines between Europe and North Africa, since the story suggests that the practice is mainly perpetrated by Moroccan immigrants to Holland (or possibly other European countries).

The story cries out for a broader analysis of the treatment of women in immigrant communities, in Europe, and in North Africa. It raises unanswered questions about whether the practice is unique to Morocco or fits in with a wider pattern of abuse of women. Perhaps that is asking too much of a single news story, but in light of common assumptions about how women are treated in the West versus Muslim countries, some serious analysis is called for.

The most disappointing part of the story is that the Dutch authorities have apparently washed their hands of the women who have already been abandoned and are confining their efforts to preventing future abandonments.