Alarming Rise in Child Marriages in Morocco Despite Legal Ban

Although child marriage is prohibited by the Family Code, this practice continues to be observed in Morocco because the same Code, in its Articles 19 and 20, gives judges the power to authorize these marriages under well-defined conditions. A legal loophole that some Moroccans exploit, which explains the year-on-year increase in cases of child marriage, from 12,000 cases in 2020 to 19,000 in 2021.

According to a study published in 2021 by the public prosecutor’s office and conducted over the period 2015-2019, 1,099 girls aged 17 and 744 girls over 17 and a half were victims of this practice during the period. Similarly, 262 girls between 16 and a half and 17 years old, as well as 181 minors between 16 and 16 and a half years old, 13 girls between 15 and 16 years old and one girl under 15 years old were married during the reference period.

Analyzing these alarming figures, the Moroccan public prosecutor’s office concluded that early marriage affects the health of minors who suffer psychological, economic, physical and sexual violence.