Study Reveals Alarming Rates of Child Marriage Persist in Morocco

It is within the framework of the World Day against Sexual Exploitation, celebrated every March 4, that the results of the study were presented. They show that the government still has to make many efforts in the fight against underage marriage.

In some regions, the study warns, "this type of marriage represents a very high rate, sometimes equal to that of authenticated marriage, as is the case in the Draa-Tafilalet region, or even the Dakhla-Oued Eddahab region." However, the Casablanca-Settat region remains the most affected by underage marriage, with a rate of 19.86%. Based on the Ministry of Justice, the study reveals that 319,177 requests for underage marriage were granted between 2009 and 2018, with all the dangers surrounding it.

The authors of the study believe that the elimination of any exemption from the age of 18 is "a first solution that can be described as radical and which is that of the majority of civil society bodies, as well as that expressed in an opinion of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE)".