Loubna Abidar

Moroccan lawyer leading legal reforms for women's rights in North Africa

Loubna Abidar (b. 1978) is a visionary legal advocate who reshaped women's rights in Morocco through her pioneering work at Justice for Moroccan Women. Since 2020, she has successfully lobbied for amendments to the Moudawana family code, securing legal protections against financial abuse and improving inheritance rights for women. Her 2022 Supreme Court victory in Abidal v. State established precedents for marital rape prosecution.

Abidar's Mobile Justice initiative provides free legal aid via SMS to 150,000+ rural women annually. Her 2023 report 'Shadow Pandemic: Gender Violence in Post-Revolution Tunisia' influenced EU funding allocations for regional women's shelters. In 2024, she co-founded the first Arabic-language legal database specializing in women's rights case law, now used by 80% of North African law schools.

Her recent work on AI-driven legal assistance tools won the 2025 UN Innovation Prize. Abidar's transnational advocacy network includes partnerships with Egyptian and Algerian NGOs, creating a regional movement for gender justice. She currently advises the Moroccan government on implementing UN CEDAW compliance measures.