Feminist activist Ibtissame Lachgar was arrested in Morocco on August 10 after sharing a July 31 post on X featuring a T-shirt that read, “Allah is lesbian.”

In the caption to her post, she wrote: “In Morocco, I walk around with t-shirts bearing messages against religions, Islam, etc. You tire us with your sanctimoniousness, your accusations. Yes, Islam, like any religious ideology, is fascist, phallocratic and misogynistic.” Lachgar later said she experienced “cyber bullying, thousands of threats of rape [and] death, calls for lynching and stoning” in response to the post.

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In Morocco, blasphemy is a criminal offense, and criticizing Islam can result in prison sentences of up to two years. The Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Rabat Court of First Instance announced that, following her social media post “depict[ing] her wearing a shirt with phrases offensive to the divine, along with a caption insulting Islam, the public prosecutor ordered an investigation” and placed Lachgar in police custody.

Lachgar is known for her outspoken feminist activism. She co-founded the Alternative Movement for Individual Freedoms (MALI), which campaigns for personal freedoms, including abortion access and same-sex marriage legalization. Over the years, her advocacy for women’s rights, LGBTQ+ equality, and freedom of expression has repeatedly put her in conflict with Moroccan authorities.

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Lachgar first drew national attention in 2009 when she and fellow activists attempted to stage a public “Ramadan picnic” to challenge laws penalizing those who break the fast in public. In 2012, she invited the Dutch group Women on Waves to dock in Morocco to promote safe abortion access, but authorities blocked the ship, citing “military maneuvers,” and escorted it out of the harbor. The following year, she staged a “kiss-in” outside parliament to support teenagers arrested over a photo of them kissing.

She has been arrested and detained several times for her activism. In 2016, she was detained for two days after intervening to stop children from working late at night, and she alleged that she was sexually assaulted by officers while in custody. In 2018, after she reported being attacked by people opposed to her activism, police accused her of being disruptive and held her in custody for 24 hours. In response to her detainment, MALI released a statement saying it believed that she was placed in custody as an attempt to intimidate abortion rights organizers in the country.

Her latest arrest has drawn international criticism. Lisa Marie Taylor, chief executive of the U.K. feminist conference FiLiA—where Lachgar is scheduled to speak in October—condemned her arrest, saying: “Silencing women for ‘blasphemy’ is a violation of their human rights and an attack on women’s freedom to think, speak and live without fear.”

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