Veiled Women Make it to Moroccan TV After Decades Ban

Shortly after Islamists won the parliamentary elections, two veiled journalists appeared on TV screens after decades of an informal ban.

Rabat - For the first time in nearly forty years, two news correspondents, from channel 2M, appeared on Moroccan TV wearing a veil.

Some interpreted this as a sign that the authorities are trying to ride the Islamist wave after the Justice and Development Party (PJD) won a quarter of the seats in the recent parliamentary elections.

Although Moroccan channels have no written regulations preventing female staff appearing on-screen from wearing a veil, the process of recruiting anchors and news reporters excluded veiled women on the pretext that they do not meet competence and distinction standards.

As Moroccans were waiting to hear the final tally of the legislative elections on channel 2M, they were surprised when news reporters Nadia Lyoubi from Rabat and Jalila Baneftan from Aghadir (southwestern Morocco) appeared on the screen, both wearing a veil.

2M’s director Samira Sitail is renowned for her hostility toward Islamists.

So why did the official media wait for an Islamist party to win elections before changing their exclusionary policies?

This issue was raised numerous times by several Moroccan media sources. For years veiled women in media had been marginalized and prevented from news reporting or hosting shows.

Only a few weeks ago, channel 1 prevented veiled journalists from participating in a training session, without providing any logical excuse for the decision.

Similarly, some newspapers and radio stations refuse to employ veiled women.

When questioned about the reasons behind the media’s discrimination against veiled women, most outlets respond with the typical answer that they do not wish to be associated with any religious or ideological orientation.

Many distinguished Moroccan journalists, like Samia al-Maghrawy and Saida Ben Aisha, have had to step out of the spotlight or put an end to their careers in media because they decided to wear the veil.

Al-Maghrawy said management started treating her differently after she donned the veil. At first, they stopped sending her on out-of-country assignments. Then, they asked her to stop being a TV presenter altogether and do editorial work instead.

In an interview with Al-Akhbar, Moroccan human rights activist Sumaya al-Motasem wonders why veiled Moroccans are not allowed to appear on television.

“Until today we have not seen a single veiled news anchor on Moroccan channels, and this is a big problem, because many of them are highly competent,” al-Motasem said.

She adds that “there is clear discrimination across many fields and sectors, which suggests to veiled Moroccan women that their chances in the workforce are considerably lower than their non-veiled counterparts.”

“Talent and competence are not the main criteria to get a job in Morocco, it’s looks and dress-style. TV presenters are even asked to look sexy, a request that automatically rules out veiled presenters,” al-Motasem points out.

Having privately criticized national television on this issue, Islamists are now asking: is the era of Moroccan TV as we know it starting to draw to an end? Will veiled anchors soon appear on the TV screen?

They accuse the official media of “imitating the West and being overly liberal.” For them, the victory of the Justice and Development Party marks the start of a new era.

This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.