On 22 May 2026 the programme "Famille Justice Enfance" hosted Salaheddine Benomar, vice-president and secretary general. 25 minutes on the birth of the association, the hearing before the Royal Commission, the limits of sole custody, "prison for maintenance" and the SOS Papa Maroc unit. Summary and key passages.
As part of its openness to international experience, the association took part in programme no. 257 of "Famille Justice Enfance", hosted by Stéphane Lambert on RLP 102.3 FM (Radio Libre en Périgord, France) on 22 May 2026, live from Morocco. The association was represented by Salaheddine Benomar, vice-president and secretary general.
What the programme says
Summary based on the transcript of the programme (timestamps refer to the recording above; quotations lightly edited for print, translated from French).
How the association was born (2:15)
"Our association was born first and foremost as a human story." At the origin were two fathers deprived of regularly seeing their children despite their sincere wish to remain present in their upbringing. For nearly two years they went through practically every possible procedure before the family courts — repeated hearings, enforcement procedures, adjournments, bailiff's reports, complaints, constant travelling — while being cut off from their children. One of them finally obtained a judgment for failure to hand over a child after more than two years. They then met other fathers living exactly the same difficulties: gradual estrangement from the children, difficulty enforcing visiting rights, psychological suffering of children and fathers alike, isolation, the feeling of not being heard. Hence the official creation of the association in Rabat in July 2023.
The hearing before the Royal Commission (3:37)
In December 2023 the association received an official invitation from the committee in charge of revising the Family Code — "an important signal showing the openness of Moroccan institutions to dialogue". It presented a proposal based on: the child's real best interests, shared parental responsibility, balanced co-parenting, shared custody as a basis for reflection when it benefits the children, joint guardianship, balanced participation in educational and material responsibilities, maintaining emotional ties with both parents, mandatory involvement of child mental-health professionals, and rapid handling of cases to avoid prolonged emotional rupture.
Sole custody has reached its limits (5:29)
"Our system is geared towards sole custody, and that custody has reached its limits": the father is confined to a right of visit on Sunday, a few hours. In Morocco, parental authority is granted automatically to the father, but "to exercise that authority, the bond between father and child must exist first. If a father cannot maintain a daily bond with his children, how could he protect that parental authority and, if need be, protect his children?" The guest cites concrete requests: contacting one's children daily, including by video call, taking part in their school life, taking them to school and to sports activities. He also describes the "closed door" mechanism: if he does not turn up on Sunday between 10 and 11 a.m., the father loses his visiting day, and proof of a failure to hand over the child is very hard to establish (10:01).
Divorce after the 2004 Moudawana and after Covid (6:52)
The 2004 reform made divorce accessible to both spouses. The number of divorces rose from around 20,000 a year before the reform to more than 80–90,000 cases a year in the 2020s, with additional pressure from lockdown.
The association's figures (12:20)
In three years the association has accompanied around 1,500 people, with about a hundred members, and 80% of cases concern failures to hand over children. Culturally the subject is "at the heart of taboos". The association also receives calls from mothers, in Morocco and abroad, and accompanies them with the same logic: focusing on solutions, the child's interests and cooperation between both parents.
Maintenance as a means of pressure… and "prison for maintenance" (15:12)
Child maintenance, an obligation of the father alone, "becomes a means of pressure when the sums to be paid reach several tens of thousands of euros"; if he fails to pay, the father is imprisoned — sentences of one to six months — whereas, for failures to hand over children, mothers only face suspended sentences. The association also receives calls from Moroccans living abroad facing failures to hand over children, international abductions or claims for double maintenance.
The SOS Papa Maroc unit (16:03)
Created in August 2024, the mediation, family conciliation and rescue unit takes calls from all over the Kingdom, especially on Sunday mornings, when it is almost impossible to reach a bailiff to obtain proof. In case of a closed door or an outright refusal, the unit contacts the police or the Royal Gendarmerie — "whom we warmly thank for their efforts" — who record the father's complaint; both parties are then heard and brought before the prosecutor.
Towards shared custody (20:54)
"The point to stress is the abolition of sole custody and the move towards shared custody. I will never stop saying it and saying it again." With exceptions assessed by the court case by case (supervised visits if necessary). Countries that have made co-parenting the default system — the European Union, North America, the Nordic countries — have seen the number of cases in their family courts fall considerably. The association "is not an association that defends men against women": its goal is the best interests of the child and the family, and it has met women's associations that share the same vision.
A deprived father cannot protect his children (23:56)
On protecting children from abuse: "a father deprived of his children has no power, neither in terms of guardianship nor in terms of protection". That is why the association calls for a co-parenting system allowing permanent contact with the children and rapid intervention in case of danger, while praising the seriousness of the prosecution service on this type of case.
Finally, the guest points to two similar associations in Egypt and Tunisia, with which the association coordinates, and to French associations such as SOS Papa France.