Courts in Morocco authorize 63% of requests for marriage of minors

Despite their exceptional nature, requests for authorization of marriage of minors continue to flood the Moroccan courts each year. The practice continues to be accepted by many families, particularly in rural areas. According to Assabah, "this situation has direct consequences on the education of young girls" who massively drop out of school, often before even finishing secondary school, thus promoting school dropout.

Faced with this situation, the Ministry of Education has decided to take action. "Circulars have been sent to the academies and provincial directorates, inviting them to mobilize all the means at their disposal in order to raise awareness among students and their families about the importance of continuing their schooling," informs the daily, which adds that school principals have recently been instructed to organize awareness campaigns against the marriage of minors and violence in schools, with the obligation to produce reports to their regional directorates.

The debate on the marriage of minors has been making headlines in recent days, after rumors, later denied by the public prosecutor’s office, that a young girl had been forced to marry an older man. Several civil society actors and human rights defenders have launched a petition addressed to the Royal Commission responsible for revising the Family Code, calling for the total abolition of the marriage of minors, without exception, and the adoption of a strict legislative reform, in line with the Constitution, international conventions and the social evolution of Morocco.

In 2024, 16,985 requests for marriage of minors were recorded, of which 10,691 were authorized by the courts, a 63% acceptance rate, according to official data. Between 2022 and 2024, thousands of applications were filed each year, revealing the persistence of this practice and the vulnerability of these young girls, as well as the increase in divorces among young brides. The petition estimates that the judicial authorization allowing the marriage of minors under 18 constitutes a weakness in the legal framework that compromises the protection of minors and goes against Morocco’s international commitments.