Alarming Rise in Child Marriages in Morocco Despite Legal Age of 18

The figures are there and speak for themselves. In Morocco, 32,104 marriages involving at least one minor within the couple were celebrated in 2018, compared to 30,312 in 2006, the CESE revealed during a conference on child marriage. A worrying increase, although the Family Code, or Moudawana, was reformed in 2004, and stipulates that the legal age for marriage is 18, according to H24infos.

However, the changes to the Moudawana provide for exceptions that allow more than 30,000 girls on average to be married each year, with the blessing of the judges, while they are still minors.

The speakers at the conference stressed the need to conduct awareness campaigns in rural areas where this phenomenon is most widespread.

Child marriage affects 12 million girls worldwide. Morocco is not a special case, the participants in this conference noted.