ABSTRACT
Morocco’s 2011 Constitution affirmed the principle of equality between men and women (art. 19) and officialised the (indigenous) Amazigh language (art. 5) alongside Arabic. However, despite apparent progress in the areas of minority groups’ and indigenous peoples’ rights and gender equality, Amazigh women’s rights continue to be violated both from within and from outside their own communities. While the Moroccan State fails to guarantee, inter alia, the Amazigh community’s access to language and education rights (as enumerated in arts. 13–14 of UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples [UNDRIP]), this article challenges dominant approaches to the study of Amazigh rights for failing to take into account the lived experiences and counter-narrative of Amazigh women. As such, this article departs from the international human rights-based vindications of Amazigh cultural groups to focus instead on the rights and identity articulation among Amazigh women themselves. This article considers whether local-based remedies might be more effective than trying to graft on larger international approaches when looking at the issue of minority and indigenous women.
