Despite more than two decades of medical practice under her belt, Bouchra Assarag still revels going out in the field.  

“The blind spots are women and girls especially in rural areas,” the Moroccan doctor said. She commended the Moroccan government for advancing on sexual and reproductive health and the low HIV incidence rate (0.08% among general population.) However she tirelessly leads workshops for parents and young people in the far reaches of her native Northern African country.  

“My fight is not over,” she said insisting on not calling her a doctor but an activist. “For one child marriages are still occurring as families use legal loopholes, citing tradition and cultural practices.” In Morocco, 14% of girls marry before their 18th birthday, according to the non-governmental organization, Child Marriage Monitoring Mechanism.  

As president of “Ensemble pour les droits à la santé sexuelle et reproductive,” EDSSR, (Together for the Right to Sexual and Reproductive Health) an organization that defends sexual health and rights in Morocco and Francophone Africa, a big portion of the work involves reaching and educating vulnerable populations. 

“I don’t criticize anyone and am very sensitive to everyone’s plight like economic pressures and feeding one’s family, but my message stays the same,” Ms Assarag said. “The more you educate young people, the healthier they will be. Health is a human right.”  

Driving long distances to remote areas does not dissuade her and she adjusts her ways. “They see me as coming from the big city of Casablanca so even I need to be mindful and extremely cautious about this for the various activities to work, communication is key,” she explained. 

Adding to the organization's woes is the amount of misinformation being distributed on the internet and on social media. "Young people in Morocco and, I think, around the world, fear judgement so instead of asking the health worker or family about a condom, they bury themselves in social media,” she said. “It’s a catastrophe especially as anti-sexual education campaigns tend to go viral.”