Morocco – A Moroccan court has sentenced a university professor accused of exchanging grades for sexual favors to two years in prison. The case reported as “Sex for Grades” by the press outlets in Morocco, the Court of Appeals in Settat, Morocco, upheld the verdict against M.M., an economics professor at Hassan I University.

On March 23 (Monday), the Court of Appeals upheld the verdict against the economics professor (M. M.), who was sentenced to two years in jail for aggravated sexual assault against female students.

On January 12, the court found the professor guilty of demanding sexual favors from female students in return for “good grades.”

The prosecutions came after leaked conversations between the accused professors and students went viral on social media. Following the end of the investigations by the National Judicial Police, the King's Public Prosecutor at the Court of Appeal in Settat chose to imprison the accused, despite the fact that he was penalized separately from four other academics in the same case.

Four professors are also accused of “Sex for Grades” in the country. The prosecutions came after leaked conversations between the accused professors and students went viral on social media in September, according to Morocco World News. The professors allegedly demanded sexual favors in return for “good grades.”  

Three months ago, the city of Settat was shaken by the scandal at Hassan I University's Faculty of Legal and Political Sciences, which grabbed Moroccan public opinion after pornographic discussions between university professors and female students at the same faculty, was revealed.

The National Division of the Judicial Police in Casablanca decided to refer five professors at Hassan I University to the Public Prosecution after hearing them in this particular instance, which included documented recordings of conversations on the social media network "WhatsApp" and videos documenting sexual practices between professors and their students.

Filing a complaint against a harasser is an unusual measure in a traditional country like Morocco, where victims of sexual harassment often remain silent in fear of embarrassment.

Under Moroccan law combating violence against women, including sexual harassment, sexual harassers face injunctive consequences, which can include jail and a fine.

 According to Moroccan law, sexual harassment is defined as harassing others in public places or elsewhere with sexually explicit acts, words, or signs, or by written, telephone, or electronic messages, recordings, or photographs of sexual nature for sexual reasons.

The sexual harassers face a six-month or one-year prison sentence and a fine of $200 to $1,000.