Two Teenage Girls In Morocco Face Up To Three Years In Prison For Kiss

Two teenage girls, 16 and 17, in Morocco were photographed by a cousin as they kissed at a rooftop event. The photo was seen soon after by one of the girls' mother who reported it to the police. 

The girls were arrested and now face up to three years in prison for “licentious or unnatural acts with an individual of the same sex” under Article 489 of the Moroccan penal code, The Washington Post reports. 

L’Union Feministe Libre is one organization that has said they condemn the arrest and “the treatment they are suffering in prison.” They have also met with the 17-year-old’s mother.

“We call out the feminist’s movement, human rights associations and Moroccan lawyers to end the series of arrests Moroccan Men and Women face on daily basis and the injustice we are now living in.”

The news spread to social media and sparked the hashtag #FreeTheGirls.

The girls were scheduled to appear in court recently and are being held in an adult prison, according to Larbi Elhabbache, vice president of the Marrakesh chapter of the Moroccan Association of Human Rights.