Pokimane Speaks Up About Sexist Moroccan Law

Pokimane shares her view on the Moroccan law for a woman not being allowed to book a hotel room in her own city as a native Moroccan herself

Morocco is a third-world country that is still developing and has a long way to go. For this reason, the laws and practices that can be found in Morocco’s cities are often backdated and make no sense whatsoever. The laws and practices are very sexist, specifically towards women in the country. One of the laws that is practiced in Morocco is that a woman, despite her marital status, cannot book or reserve a hotel room for herself under her own name in the city that is stated on her ID card as it is illegal to do so. It is a strict law that must be followed by women in their own cities. 

Imane Anys, better known by her internet alias, Pokimane is the most followed and viewed female streamer on Twitch’s platform. At present, Pokimane has a total of 9.3M followers on her Twitch channel where she streams almost daily to her loyal fanbase. She primarily streams video gaming content but she also does streams where she just chats with her viewers. Some of the games she plays on her Twitch channel include Valorant and Fortnite. 

Pokimane shares her issue with the sexist Moroccan law against women

On a live stream today, Pokimane spoke up about this Moroccan law as she is a native Moroccan herself. She began telling her chat or viewers about the fact that she recently found about a Moroccan Law. She told her chat:

“Did you guys know, in Morocco it is illegal for a woman to reserve a hotel under her name in the city within which she resides. And you’re probably thinking, what? What does that even mean, right? You’re allowed to reserve hotels in other cities because that would imply that you’re traveling. However, they assume that if you’re reserving a hotel within your city….it means, you’re up to no good.”  She paused for a bit after saying this to read her chat comments and continued while responding, “No, not just cheating guys, prostitution. Which is a little bit insane and a little bit funny because, one: bish be for real and heteronormative relationships, it’s gonna be the guy who books the hotel anyways. So, where’s their law?”

Her view on the law was affirmed and agreed upon by her viewers and fans alike, who were saying so in the chat comments. They were also sharing their own views on the topic, showing that they agreed with Poki. Poki then continued to talk about the topic saying: 

“And number two: there are so many reasons that a woman could need a hotel. My mom told me about this movie that came out where they, I guess, tried to make a point about this. And, there was a woman in an abusive relationship, an abusive marriage.” She then began to explain to her chat about the movie and what it highlighted about the Moroccan law, saying, “Her husband had been pretty abusive to her and he was begging for her to stay, saying like no, please don’t leave. And she was like, I need to get out of here, at least for now. And he was like please stay, please stay the night. And she was like, no! I need to stay away from you, at least for tonight. And obviously, she tries to leave, she tries to get a hotel and they refuse her because it’s in the city that is the same on her ID. So, it's like, come on!” 

Credit: Pokimane

She then continued talking to her chat about the reasons why this law could still exist in the list of Moroccan laws saying that it is sad. She said that the reason could be that Morocco is still a developing country and it is a very old law which hasn’t been revised or amended yet. She also said that it is hard for her to keep faith that it will change because it is a third world country and some parts of the country are in extreme poverty while others are wealthy and technologically advanced. We think that Poki is indeed right for speaking up about this sexist law and it is time for Morocco to embrace the 21st century. They need to update their laws and practices, because it is dangerous and harmful to women who could be seeking help. What do you think about this situation? Do you agree with Pokimane and her views on this? We sure hope you do because the world needs to change its views and get going towards the future.