Orange is the world’s new color of the season, and for good reason. Activists, officials, and landmarks have all “oranged” for a UN campaign against gender-based violence.

Ahlam Ben Saga is a Cultural Studies graduate from university Mohammed V of Literature and Humanities in Rabat.

Rabat – Rabat’s Mohammed VI Bridge, the longest cable-stayed bridge in Africa, is bathed in orange lights for the 16 days of UN’s #OrangeTheWorld campaign denouncing violence against women.

The bridge, spanning the valley of the Bouregreg river near Rabat, will light up every evening throughout the 16 days of the campaign which began on November 25, signifying Morocco’s activism against gender-based violence.

Orange lights have also illuminated the building of the delegation of the European Union to Morocco in Rabat.

In Monday’s Parliamentary session, Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani and Minister of Human Rights Mustapha Ramid reportedly wore orange clothing to show their support for the movement.

Iconic buildings around the world, such as the Giza pyramids in Egypt and the EU Parliament in Brussels are embracing orange.

Following in the steps of the international “#MeToo” movement against sexual harassment and sexual assault, UN women around the world are observing 16 days of #OrangeTheWorld activism until December 10 “to bring together governments, communities, survivors, activists and the public through high-visibility events, using the signature colour orange.”

Morocco’s #Masaktach campaign

Morocco’s new Law 103-13 to eliminate violence against women, sexual harassment, and gender-based discrimination, which took effect on September 12, promises prison sentences ranging from one to six months for people who sexually harass women in public spaces. Harassment is defined as the use of words, acts or signals of a sexual nature for sexual purposes.

The #Masaktach (I won’t be silenced) movement followed shortly after as the Moroccan equivalent of the global #MeToo movement. Both the law against sexual harassment and Masaktach came after widely-publicized cases of rape, harassment, and violence which outraged Moroccan citizens.

The latest rape case to receive wide attention was of Khadija, a 17-year-old Moroccan who said she was kidnapped and raped by more than 12 men for two months.

Her alleged rapists also tattooed her body against her will, she said, writing their names on her skin.

Another case caused outrage in Casablanca last year when a group of teenagers aggressively groped a young woman on a moving bus while other passengers did nothing.