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Middle East&Africa
中東及非洲版塊
Prudery in Morocco
摩洛哥的談性色變
Get two rooms
訂兩個房間
Hoteliers are backing Moroccans who want to legalise sex before marriage
酒店經營者支持摩洛哥人婚前性行為合法化
IT IS BAD enough that the pandemic cut the number of foreign tourists by 80%; to make matters even worse, Morocco's ban on extramarital sex is stifling the domestic market in hotel beds.
疫情的蔓延使外國游客減少了80%，這已經夠糟糕的了；更糟糕的是，摩洛哥對婚外性行為的禁令正在扼殺國內酒店市場。
Unmarried couples caught in the same room are liable to jail terms of up to a year under Article 490 of the penal code.
根據《刑法》第490條，未婚夫婦同處一室，最高可判一年監禁。
Each week the police check hotel records to uphold the law.
警方每周都會檢查酒店記錄以維護法律。
Receptionists-turned-private detectives require verification of marriage certificates before handing over the keys.
酒店前臺變成了私家偵探，他們在交鑰匙前要求核實結婚證。
"I get more calls from unmarried couples wanting to stay than anyone else," says Meryem Zniber, who runs a resort in the Rif mountains. "I could fill my hotel 100% if only they'd lift the law."
梅里姆·茲尼伯在里夫山經營著一家度假酒店，他說：“我接到的想要住下來的未婚夫婦的電話比任何人都多。只要他們解除法律，我的酒店一定可以爆滿。”
Hopes of change rose after the Islamist party heading the government crashed in elections in September, losing 90% of its seats.
9月，執政的伊斯蘭黨派在選舉中失敗，失去了90%的席位，改變的希望隨之增加。
For a decade its leaders had squelched any policy deemed haram, or contrary to Islamic law.
十年來，其領導人一直壓制任何被視為違反伊斯蘭法律的行為。
Aziz Akhannouch, the new prime minister, sounds more liberal.
新總理阿齊茲·阿克漢努奇聽起來更開明。
His government recently said it would review the entire penal code.
他的政府最近表示將重新審查整個刑法。
But he has left out of his coalition the only party that publicly calls for Article 490 to be repealed.
但他把唯一一個公開要求廢除第490條的政黨排除在外。
The interior ministry is a big obstacle.
內政部是一大障礙。
"They fear turning hotels into brothels," says a former minister.
一位前部長說：“他們害怕旅館會變成妓院。”
Others say the main concern is pecuniary: officials do not want to lose the bribes they extort from hotels and unmarried couples who canoodle in them.
另一些人說，主要金錢上的問題：官員們不想失去他們從酒店和未婚夫婦那里索要的賄賂。
Travel websites suggest workarounds.
旅游網站上有人建議一些解決辦法。
One proposes donning a wedding ring. "The offer of an additional payment may carry some weight," it adds.
有人提議戴結婚戒指。又補充道：“額外付款的提議可能會帶來一些影響。”
Another suggests "the two-room method: rent single rooms, then scurry across the corridor after dark".
另一個建議是“兩室法：租單人房，天黑后再匆匆穿過走廊”。
But others have tired of the expense and the hypocrisy.
但也有些人已經厭倦了這種花費和虛偽。
Hashtag campaigns —"Love is not a Crime" and "Stop490"—proliferate online.
“#愛情無罪”和“#Stop490”等話題在網上瘋狂傳播。
Conservatives urge young Moroccans to respect tradition.
保守派敦促摩洛哥的年輕人尊重傳統。
Youngsters retort that the precursor to Article 490 was introduced by France in 1953, near the end of the colonial era.
年輕人反駁說，第490條的前身是1953年法國在殖民時代末期引入的。
And they point to other Muslim countries that are shaking off old mores.
他們還指出，其他穆斯林國家正在擺脫舊習俗。
The United Arab Emirates decriminalised extramarital sex a year ago.
一年前，阿拉伯聯合酋長國將婚外性行為合法化。
Saudis say their hotels have stopped asking couples to show marriage certificates.
沙特人說，他們的酒店已經不再要求夫婦出示結婚證書。
Morocco's latest hashtag campaign implores "Vote4Love".
摩洛哥最新的話題運動要求“#為愛投票”。
