Logo for canvasopedia.org
Logo TactisForChange
Dilemma Actions MapCase StudiesMethodsIndexAbout UsContact Us

Oct 1, 2013-2013

Morocco

Public Kiss-In Against Public Indecency Laws in Morocco

Share

ACTIVISTS/ACT.GROUPS/DESCRIPTION OF THE GROUP

Moroccan Citizens (Especially Youth)

TARGET

Moroccan Government; Moroccan Police

WIDELY HELD BELIEF

Public display of affection is a natural human tendency and everyone should be free to kiss in public.

CASE NARRATIVE

Issue and Opponent: Three Moroccan teens, a 15-year-old and 14-year-old couple and their 15-year-old photographer, were arrested on October 3, 2013. Their crime was posting a picture of the couple kissing outside of their high school on Facebook. In Moroccan law, this is a violation of public decency. The event took place in a very conservative Muslim region in the Northeast mountains of Morocco. The students received offenses and violent reactions from the most conservative population, who consider the action of the young people as disrespectful to their religious beliefs. Dilemma Action: After the event, protesters took to the streets in support of the couple, staging a public kiss-in and sharing images similar to those that resulted in the original arrests, in addition to holding a sit-in outside of the facility where the three young persons were being detained. They also launched a campaign on social media to post a million copycat photos and use the hashtag #Freebousa, which means “free kiss” in Arabic, in protest of the arrest of the young couple. Outcome: Following the social pressure, the teens were released on bail but the original post was completely removed from social media. The story was covered by different media from North America to New Zealand but skipped through the Middle East. For many of the protesters, this shows that Morocco, a country often regarded as one of the most liberal in the Muslim world, is still deeply conservative at its core. Similar actions against young people have been replicated in other countries such as Tunisia.

PRIMARY STRUGGLE/GOAL

Human rights

DA TACTICS USED

Civil disobedience of “illegitimate” laws

CASE NARRATIVE WRITER

SUCCESS METRICS

9 / 12

(EREP) Dilemma action got replicated by other movements

(MC) Media Coverage

(MSYMP) Media coverage was sympathetic to the activists

(OR) Opponent response

(PS) Dilemma action built sympathy with the public

(PUN) Punishment favored the activists

(REFR) Dilemma action reframed the narrative of the opponent

(RF) Dilemma action reduced fear and/or apathy among the activists

(SA) Dilemma action appealed to a broad segment of the public

PART OF A LARGER CAMPAIGN

0 / 3

RESOURCES

Project documentation

Dilemma Actions Coding Guidebook

Case study documentation

Dilemma_Actions_Analysis_Dataset

CC BY 4.0 Deed, Attribution 4.0 International

SOURCES

Everyday Rebellion. 2014. “Kissing for Civil Rights in the Arab World
,” Retrieved July 23, 2023. (https://everydayrebellion.net/kissing-for-civil-rights-in-the-arab-world/).


Gardner, Tom. 2013. “Pictured: The public kiss that got two Moroccan teenagers arrested for being a ‘danger to social order,'” Daily Mail. Retrieved July 23, 2023. (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2511776/Pictured-The-public-kiss-got-Moroccan-teenagers-arrested-danger-social-order.html).


Alami, Aida. 2013. “Teenage kiss arrests spark furore in Morocco,” Al Jazeera. Retrieved July 23, 2023. (https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2013/10/23/teenage-kiss-arrests-spark-furore-in-morocco/).

Related cases

Oct 17, 2019-2019

Lebanon

October Revolution

The majority of Lebanese people have been unhappy with the current political order and prime minister Saad el Hariri, who took office again in 2016. Before his reelect...

Accountability / Corruption
NONVIOLENT PROTEST A...

/

Displays of flags an...
Share

Read more

Feb 23, 2019-2019

Colombia, Venezuela

In 2019, Venezuela continued to face a humanitarian crisis. The UN estimated that nearly three million people had fled the country since 2015 to escape the chronic foo...

Accountability / Corruption
NONVIOLENT PROTEST A...

/

Refusal to accept ap...

Aug 25, 1968-1968

Russia

On the night of August 20 – 21, 1968, the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies invaded Czechoslovakia, crushing the Prague Spring, the challenge to centralize...

Accountability / Corruption
Pro-Democracy
SOCIAL NONCOOPERATIO...

/

Slogans/caricatures/...

Subscribe to our newsletters to get full access to all materials on our website.

Logo for canvasopedia.org
Logo TactisForChange
Dilemma Actions MapCase StudiesMethodsIndexAbout UsContact Us

© 2026 Tactics4 Change. All rights reserved. Read our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.