Fedwa Misk

Fedwa Misk is a Moroccan journalist and feminist campaigner. Active in promoting women's rights in Morocco she participated in the 2011 February 20 Movement. She subsequently opened an online magazine with the aim of promoting discussion about women in Morocco. Misk's publication Qandisha featured several high profile stories and was targeted by hackers twice. Misk currently works as a writer for the Le Courrier de l'Atlas newspaper.

Fedwa Misk

Career

Misk attended six years of medical school and has worked as a freelance writer for Moroccan and foreign newspapers. She currently works as a journalist for the Le Courrier de l'Atlas newspaper focusing on articles about cultural events, interviews and portrait pieces. Misk also runs a literary cafe. In 2011 she participated in demonstrations by the February 20 Movement during the Arab Spring against corruption, lack of freedom and injustice by the Moroccan regime. She has been blogging for many years. In 2013 she called for a sit-in protest in front of the Moroccan parliament building to call for the release of jailed journalist Ali Anouzla. She describes herself as a feminist.

On 14 November 2011 Misk founded the Qandisha website, an online collaborative magazine inspired by a lack of media support following the Arab Spring for improvements to the rights of women. The magazine was named after the mythical Qandisa, a female Jinn famous for her powers of seduction. Qandisha covered topics of relevance to women such as their families and husbands, relgion, secularism and the wearing of the veil. Misk's aim was to demonstrate that women were interested in subjects broader than the fashion, beauty and cooking items featurured in most other women's publications. Misk was the magazine's moderator, coordinator and editor-in-chief of the publication which was issued daily. More than 80 people worked for the magazine in some form within its first year, including several dozen writers. By 2015 it had 100 female volunteers and 20 male - in a humorous fashion any article written by a man is simply credited to "un homme" (a man). Misk wanted to spread the message of Qandisha to a wider audience by beginning radio broadcasts and opening a web-based radio station.

The magazine frequently cover hard hitting stories including that of a Moroccan politician who was acquitted of rape, despite the victim subsequently giving birth to what she said was his baby. The scandal caused by Qandisha's coverage of the story led to the case being reopened and a retrial to be scheduled. A 2012 story on a rape case demanded that the minister for justice repeal a law allowing a rapist to marry his victim. In 2011 Qandisha elicited a formal apology from the French consul general in Casablanca after it revealed a young woman had been rudely treated by its staff.

The site has been attacked by its opponents. Misk frequently receives hate mail and threats online. Some of its opponents allege that the site was funded by Israel, the USA or France. In June 2012 the site was hacked and the page changed to show the Moroccan royal emblem and national motto "god, the country and the king". The hacking occurred after Qandisha published a letter about homosexuality by a gay man. The site was subsequently hacked for a second time.

As of 2017 the Qandisha website is no longer available.