CAT/C/MAR/CO/4 Psychiatric hospitals 22. The Committee takes note of the supplementary written information provided by the State party regarding its plans for preventing the ill-treatment of patients in psychiatric hospitals and the new framework law of 2011 on the health system. The Committee is still, however, concerned about the lack of information on the system for monitoring and inspecting psychiatric hospitals that offer inpatient facilities and on the results of such monitoring arrangements and inspections (art. 16). The State party should ensure that the national mechanism for monitoring and overseeing places of detention, which is to be put in place soon, has the authority to inspect other types of facilities where people are deprived of their liberty as well, such as psychiatric hospitals. The State party should ensure that the results of such monitoring processes are duly acted upon. The mechanism in question should provide for regular and unannounced visits as a means of preventing torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The State party should also ensure that forensic doctors trained to detect signs of torture are present during those visits. It should also ensure that patients detained in psychiatric hospitals against their will are able to appeal against the corresponding internment order and have access to a physician of their choice. Violence against women 23. In view of the scale of violence against women in Morocco, the Committee is deeply concerned by the absence of a specific, comprehensive legal framework for the prevention of violence against women, for the criminal prosecution of persons who commit such acts and for the protection of victims and witnesses. The Committee is also concerned by the fact that so few complaints have been filed by victims, that the prosecution service has not initiated criminal proceedings in such cases, that the complaints which are filed are not systematically investigated, even in rape cases, and that the burden of proof is excessive and is borne entirely by the victim in a society where the risk of stigmatization of such victims is high. The Committee is concerned by the absence of any specific law that makes marital rape a criminal offence. In addition, the Committee is deeply concerned by the fact that, under Moroccan law, the rapist of a minor can avoid criminal responsibility by marrying the victim. The Committee regrets the lack of information about the number of cases in which victims have married their rapists or have refused to do so (arts. 2, 12, 13 and 16). The Committee urges the State party to enact a law as soon as possible on violence against women and girls in order to ensure that any form of violence against women constitutes a criminal offence. The Committee also urges the State party to ensure that women and girls who are victims of violence have immediate access to means of protection, including shelters, and to redress, and that perpetrators are prosecuted and suitably punished. The Committee reiterates the recommendations made in that regard by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.5 The State party should amend its Criminal Code without delay to ensure that marital rape is criminalized and that criminal proceedings against rapists are not terminated if they marry their victims. The State party should also conduct studies on the causes and extent of violence, including sexual and domestic violence, against women and girls. The State party should present information in its next report to the Committee on the laws and policies in place to combat violence against women and on the impact of the measures taken. 5 10 CEDAW/C/MAR/CO/4, para. 21. GE.11-47997