Airing the Dirty Laundry of Morocco's Sex Industry: Hiding from the Gaze of the Colonizer in the Postcolony

In an effort to protect its image, the Moroccan government banned the movie Much Loved (Zin Li Fik), which depicts the lives of sex workers in the country. But just days after the the premiere of the movie at the Cannes film festival the government released data from a 2011 report that acknowledged the presence of 19,333 sex workers, primarily in the cities of Marakech and Casablanca.

In the days following the release of the film, social media and Moroccan online news outlets buzzed with discussion of the topic. One op-ed piece in the Moroccan Times criticised the film not only for its depiction of this side of society and of sexuality, but for the filmaker's choice to do so on the international stage, rather than within the country itself.

The refrain of "don't air the nation's dirty laundry to an international audience" is common in postcolonial countries, and it takes the form of desiring not to acknowledge marginal behaviors and economic sectors (as in this case) or to bring internal political issues to international bodies (as some authors in Azebaijan have said about groups that requested European countries boycott the European games because of the county's human rights abuses).

These types of situations suggest the continuing of focus on the gaze of the colonizer and the desire to maintain uniformity of national identity and a strict adherence to normative representation of the body politic. The question, however, is whether the discussion would have ever arisen if the topic had not been brought to the international public sphere. The answer may reside in the openness of the society itself.

In a closed political environment, where the government has tight controls on what is being published or broadcast, controversial topics may never reach the fore of discussion and may find themselves swept into a corner. Morocco, a country with a rating of "Partly Free" in the Freedom in the World Index, has begun having discourse on the topic with both supporters and detractors of the filmaker weighing, and could utilize this chance to address the problem.

As public discussions move to the Internet, the relations of social media and governments become more significant for a society's ability to address its issues. Facebook's and Twitter's challenges with authoritarian governments that wish to suppress opposition, such as Turkey and Russia, and the increased ability of governments to block such websites, mean societies might have a decrease ability to mitigate risk of unrest through the self-correction of dealing with smaller issues.

It remains to be seen what direction such trends will take, but hot-button topics like Much Loved's depiction of the Moroccan sex industry will provide insight into how the trend is developing.

Succession Concerns in Algeria

Roughly a year ago, Algeria had suffered pockets of protest surrounding the election of Abdullaziz Bouteflika to his fourth term as the president of the North African country. The protests, and the ailing health of the 78 year-old leader brought on discussion among political observers about the country’s ability to remain stable in the coming years. The decline in onshore petroleum reserves and in oil prices recently have aggravated the problem, leading some analysts to look into not only the potential for instability, but also the succession problem that looms over the political landscape.

Abdullaziz Bouteflika rose to power in 1999 at the end of the country’s civil war that began with the annulled election of Islamists to government in 1992.  Since then, Bouteflika has drawn upon income from oil and gas production to provide social services to the country and invest into infrastructure projects. At the same time, the security forces have come down hard on attempts to protest. 

In the capital city Algiers, a strong police presence is maintained to ensure stability, but outside the city remains a threat from groups associated with ISIS. In September 2014, militants kidnapped and beheaded French tourist Herve Gourdel to punish France for its actions against the Islamic State. In March 2015, 100 Turkish workers were evacuated from a roadway project east of Algiers due to a threat from militants associated with the Islamic state. In February, the US State Department issued a travel warning for its citizens about the Kabylie regions and the eastern wilayas, and the Saharan Desert regions of the south and southeast.

Such areas of insecurity make the concerns about Mr. Bouteflika’s health more significant. The lack of plans for succession could put the country in a position where a power vacuum is created, which could lead to violent clashes within the society. Some observers have noted that leaders of the Algerian government since the 1960s have been less elected by the public than selected by the security forces, which could decrease the succession issue. Moreover, the government is seeking to compensate for the loss of onshore reserves by seeking offshore wells to support the country’s economy.

Nonetheless, this situation is one that should be watched. Since the country has a long border with Libya and analysts have registered concern about the possibility of Libya’s becoming the next failed state, even a small loss of stability in Algeria could provide the opportunity militants need to expand their reach. 

The best way to ensure stability in the long term is to prepare now for the event of succession, in particular one that would ensure that the voice of the broader public can be heard.