Diary of a Feminist: Rim Akrache Confronting Mental Health, Gender Bias in Morocco
In this edition of Diary of a Feminist, we meet a young Moroccan woman, Rim Akrache. Not only is Rim a well-established clinical psychologist, humanitarian, and feminist but she has a kind and empathetic soul who has dedicated her life to helping her community.
However, all this success has not come without its challenges. Like many countries mental health and feminism in Morocco, all come with a heavy stigma attached, which people like Rim are fighting tirelessly to diminish.
Growing up in Casablanca, Rim comes from a predominantly female family. “That has influenced me in my career as my mother is a national African champion of women’s volleyball and started her career in Morocco.” When raising her family she had to give up her sporting career, Rim explained.
“My mother's experience influenced me because she defied a lot of things and had to start from zero, working in a factory in Morocco. Her story taught me that nothing can limit your capacity.”
Going against the grain; returning home to Morocco
Morocco suffers from brain drain specifically in the medical field, as thousands of medical students leave every year to work abroad, hoping for better working conditions and salaries. The National Council for Human Rights (CNDH) reported in 2023 that as many as 14,000 doctors left Morocco to work abroad.
Rim’s story stands out as someone who studied abroad in Paris but actively chose to return to Morocco. Leaving Morocco at the age of 17, Rim went to study medicine in Europe, which is where she discovered her passion for psychology.
Living and studying in France was not the best experience for Rim: “There was a lot of racism even at university,” she recalled.
Beyond the racism, she added that she noticed the contrast between Morocco and France. “I saw the difference, we have a lot of problems here in Morocco, and it's better when you're home country and so you can address these problems on your own terms, without people making racist comments telling you that you should come back.”
“In Europe they already have everything,” she said referring to resources and funding. “Whereas there is more room to progress in this field in Morocco,” Rim highlighted.
Working in an unrecognized sector
“Most of the psychologists in Morocco are women, but when you present yourself as a feminist psychologist it exposes you to a lot of insults.” Talking about one experience, Rim said one male psychologist called her out on social media saying that Rim “shouldn’t use psychology or mental health to advocate for women’s rights and promote her ideologies.”
“There is a psychologist that I love and she always speaks about gender bias and how women can be victims of systematic oppression. She always says that men should listen, ask, and trust because they don’t live the experiences of women.”
In the media we commonly see people applauding advances in women’s rights, Rim believes “women should stop celebrating when we are granted basic rights, when it is something we should already have, as it shouldn’t have been a fight to be granted that in the first place.”
Supporting Moroccan Communities
Rim conducts therapy in person and online supporting many Moroccan women and girls daily. One of the recurring root problems she sees in Moroccan society is related to family and the norms that are attached to Moroccan home life.
“The idea in Morocco is that family is sacred but sometimes they do a lot of harm to their children it can be the father, mother, or brothers and sisters. It’s not always what you could perceive as a bad family. Sometimes it's parents who have very high standards towards their children.”
Beyond the family there is added pressure, she expressed. “For girls and women society is creating unrealistically high standards for them; You always have to be beautiful and intelligent, a good mother, be physically fit, work, and be good at cooking. There are a lot of standards. And that can be like a cage for girls and women.”
“In Morocco, We have a lot of stigma associated with mental health and it comes from cultural impacts. This is something we should work on as 48% of Moroccans suffer from a mental health illness. We need to make people more aware of the importance of mental health and consider it like physical health.”
Rim has supported a diverse network of communities including crisis relief in Burkina Faso and also the earthquake-affected zones in Morocco. She added, “I also advocate and work with girls and women with disabilities because it's very important when we speak about intersectional feminism to address discrimination that comes with disabilities.”
However, a change in how Moroccan society views people with mental disabilities seems a distant prospect when official legislation such as the Family Code uses damaging and incorrect terminology like “crazy” to describe people with mental health issues, said Rim exasperated.
Despite the challenges Rim is determined to continue her work, she is eager to help more in crisis-affected zones and continue her work with organizations helping people with learning. Meanwhile, she takes care of herself, by using her network of people for support including her therapist, and relaxing by doing hobbies like Arabic calligraphy.
About the Author:
Olivia Hooper is the communications co-lead at Politics4Her, she is a British journalist and editor with a degree in translation. Olivia uses her career in journalism to advocate on gender-based issues surrounding women and girls.
