Morocco minister says women with higher salaries should pay ‘alimony’

Morocco’s Minister of Justice, Abdellatif Ouahbi, stirred controversy after suggesting that women who work and earn well should pay alimony to their ex-husbands.

During an interview with channel 2M on Monday, Ouahbi addressed questions about the Family Code and his stance on alimony payments after divorce.

“For a woman to be given all her rights, we must know what the man owns and doesn’t own, and what the woman owns and doesn’t own, because financial responsibility is shared,” he said.

The minister explained that “if the woman’s income exceeds the man’s income, she will be required to pay alimony because she contributes to the financial process.”

He indicated this issue is currently under discussion and there should be “a kind of balance and justice” in alimony matters.

The minister’s statements sparked a debate with many highlighting that under Islamic law men pay alimony after a divorce and that a married Muslim woman is not required to spend money from her income or property on her husband or household.

READ: Morocco begins new national census