Morocco Lawmakers Push to Ban Child Marriage, Raising Minimum Age to 18

For the authors of this bill, the marriage of young girls under the age of 15 to 17 at the time of their union, hinders their development and limits their chances of becoming economically and culturally autonomous, by depriving them in particular of all the chances of schooling and of living their life normally.

For the PPS parliamentarians, the power granted to the judge to authorize this marriage by reasoned decision and with the approval of the legal representative, in fact gives rise to a forced marriage without the consent of the underage girls. As a result, what was an exception has unfortunately become the basic rule over time. According to official statistics, 99% of marriage requests during the 2007-2018 period concerned underage girls, showing that the phenomenon does not concern boys.

In presenting this initiative, the PPS parliamentarians are based in particular on the political and modernist progressive identity and reference of their party as well as on the provisions of the 2011 Constitution and the international human rights instruments ratified by Morocco, which has already received several recommendations made by various international institutions in this area.

In view of all these considerations, it is time, according to this bill, to proceed with the revision of the Moudouana through the repeal of the exception articles, in order to put an end once and for all to the marriage of underage girls.