How to handle female street harassment in Morocco in 2023

Street harassment in Morocco is a huge problem. If you know anything about Morocco, have done any basic searching about the country, or even read some of our other articles, you’ll know that street harassment is a regular occurance in the country of Morocco. Women young and old deal with it constantly and the problem is not getting any better.

How do you deal with street harassment in Morocco? What can you do to keep yourself safe, how to handle catcalling, following, and other forms of unwanted attention?

We’ve talked about the safety of women in Morocco before, but how do you navigate harassment when it happens? What do you do when confronted with one (or several) people confronting you when you’re exploring Morocco?

These are the best tips and tricks for navigating the uncomfortable world of street harassment in Morocco while staying safe and having a good vacation.

Is street harassment in Morocco really that big of a problem?

First things first, street harassment is a massive problem in Morocco. If you go into any female travel group and search for information about Morocco, you will see hundreds of stories of women, harassed, followed, groped, or otherwise bothered while traveling in Morocco.

Local women experience this more than anybody, having grown up with it for their entire adolescent and adult lives. There have even been scientific studies on the topic. Even Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have spoken out about the need for better laws protecting women against street sexual harassment in Morocco, as well as other forms of violence against women.

Part of the problem is how normalized and accepted this is in Moroccan culture. I’ve even brought the topic up on the Moroccan subreddit and got the following comments:

So how are we supposed to meet someone then ? If you get mad because someone says “hi” at you, you need help.

Men suffer from the opposite problem: loneliness and sexual misery. 7ta wa7ed ma l9a8a kifma bgha.

A reddit comment from a male Moroccan

it’s utterly irresponsible to front-load young people with such incredible hurdles who already have social issues. we all know the ones we are talking about and causing problems aren’t in reddit reading this topics.

Another redditor

The idea that “it’s not men’s fault, what else are they supposed to do?” or “boys will be boys” is a depressingly common mentality about the harassment women go through in Morocco. Nobody holds them accountable, and, like in Egypt, it is doing incredible damage to the tourism industry and global reputation of Morocco and Moroccans at large.

My personal experiences with street harassment in Morocco

I’ve been living in morocco for over a year, and I’ve had some frankly terrible experiences. I’ve been followed, yelled at, insulted by groups of men in passing cars, had trash thrown at me, been spit on when I was riding a motorbike in a small city, have been grabbed, and more. Those instances are not a daily occurrence, but I get approached daily or several times a day. Walking to the store, walking my dog, or just existing in society is an invitation for people (but mostly men) to come up and ask for your number, sex, money, or all of the above.

These are the top ways I handle harassment and the advice I give to others trying to visit, live in, or enjoy the beautiful country of Morocco.

How to handle street harassment in Morocco

Tactic #1 for avoiding street harassment in Morocco: Ignore them

My best tool for dealing with street harassment in Morocco is to simply ignore it. I wear noise-canceling headphones pretty much every single minute I’m outside of my house, and I don’t stop when people try to talk to me or engage with me. I just keep walking as if I have a purpose and pretend like I didn’t hear them (because often I don’t).

Ignoring is truly your best course of action. It doesn’t force you to engage, doesn’t open you up for conflict, and doesn’t turn the conversation into a negotiation. if you can ignore, ignore. I see Moroccan women do this all the time: they walk with purpose, keep their heads down, and don’t make eye contact with anybody. It’s very effective.

Tactic #2 for avoiding street harassment in Morocco: Wear a wedding ring

As much as it sucks, Moroccan men respect married men’s wives more than they respect single women when it comes to not bothering them. If you aren’t married, just buy a cheap wedding ring and wear it, which will go far in preventing people from bothering you. If you are married, make sure you wear your ring so you can point to it if anybody tries to ask for your number or engage you in conversation.

Tactic #3 for avoiding street harassment in Morocco: Don’t be friendly

I’m American, and we’re very friendly people. We start conversations with strangers in line at the grocery store, we not and smile at people walking past, we are friendly and chatty and helpful.

I pretty much had to stop this when I moved to Morocco. It’s not culturally common here, and it seems like an invitation to start a conversation. Friendliness is seen as flirtation or invitation in Morocco. Don’t say hello, don’t smile politely, and frankly, I don’t even really look people in the eye anymore when I’m walking around. I know that sounds harsh, but even making eye contact can be enough of an invitation to have an awkward interaction.

It sucks to not be your authentic, friendly self, but women travelers in Morocco have to make certain behavior adjustments to avoid awkward or unsafe situations.

Tactic #4 for avoiding street harassment in Morocco: Dress for the country

The unfortunate reality is that Morocco is decades behind western cultures when it comes to women’s rights, bodily autonomy, and safety. There are plenty of discourses on street sexual harassment in Morocco about what should and shouldn’t happen in the country but the reality is, the street harassment problem is not going to change in the next year or two. Ideological beliefs aside, women can and should take their safety seriously and dress modestly to avoid negative or unsafe attention in Morocco.

👗 Take a look at our suggestions for what to wear in Morocco

How do you deal with street harassment in Morocco? What’s your advice for verbal harassment or gender harassment in Morocco? Please share below!