Morocco

14% of girls in Morocco are married before their 18th birthday and 1% are married before the age of 15.

In early 2020, the Moroccan Minister of Justice announced that 32,000 requests for marriage to children were submitted in 2019, 81% of which were approved.

UN Women has identified hotspots for child marriage in Azrou, Midelt, Beni Mellal, Marrakesh, Azilal, and Casablanca.

According to UNICEF, the risk of girls marrying before the age of 18 in Morocco is less than half of what it was three decades ago. However, statistical information may be inconsistent with this claim as many child marriages are not officially registered.

Child marriage is driven by gender inequality and the belief that girls are somehow inferior to boys.

In Morocco, child marriage is exacerbated by:

● Level of education: In a 2019 study, it was found that three quarters of parents of children married before the age of 18 were illiterate or had not completed primary school. One quarter of Moroccan girls with no education were married by the age of 18, in comparison to 7% of girls with secondary or higher education.

● Poverty: Child marriage offers a degree of financial security and reduces the perceived burden of girls on their families. Some Family Court judges reportedly authorise child marriages for economic reasons in poorer regions.

● Gender inequality: Women and girls are often expected to conform to strict, gender roles as wives and mothers and have little decision-making power. Reports have highlighted that the Arab Spring reinforced conservative beliefs on gender roles.

● Pre-marital sex: Some families marry off their daughters if they suspect they are in a sexual relationship outside of marriage, which is still considered a crime under Article 490 of Morocco’s Criminal Code.

● Harmful practices: Child marriage prevails in the form of temporary marriages, consanguineous marriages and polygamy which are used as a way to bypass Islamic restrictions on sex outside wedlock. Additionally, most child marriages, especially in rural areas, are carried out under customary Muslim law (Al Fatiha). Eventually, judges are forced to recognise the marriage retrospectively.

● Violence against girls: In 2012, 16-year-old Amina Filali committed suicide after being forced to marry the man who had raped her. Controversial Article 475 of Morocco’s Penal Code is used to allow rapists to escape prosecution by marrying their victims, even if they were under the legal age of marriage of 18. A 2011 study conducted by the Moroccan High Commission for Planning shows that younger women who marry without consent are almost three times more likely to experience intimate partner violence.

● Family honour: A 2013 study shows that parents, and in some cases aunts and uncles, play a significant role in deciding to marry girls, often for reasons associated with preserving honour and worrying that their daughters might be rejected if they are not married by a certain age.

● Religion: In a 2017 study, participants highlighted that misinterpretation of religious principles enables child marriage in Morocco. Some people believe that Islam condones the marriage of girls as soon as they begin menstruation.

● Social pressure: Some families reportedly feel pressured to marry their daughters at a young age in order to avoid social sanctions from the community, including gossip, shame and stigma.

● COVID-19: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on some of the poorest households and has exacerbated the vulnerability of children. The pandemic exposed vulnerable families to loss of financial income pushing them further into poverty and exclusion. School closures further exposed the vulnerability of young girls, making them more vulnerable to abuse and child marriage.

Morocco has committed to ending child, early and forced marriage by 2030 in line with target 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The government has not submitted a Voluntary National Review in any High-Level Political Forum to date.

Morocco co-sponsored the 2013 procedural resolution on child, early and forced marriage, the 2021 resolution on child, early and forced marriage in times of crisis, including the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2023 resolution on ending and preventing forced marriage. In 2014, Morocco also signed a joint statement at the Human Rights Council calling for a resolution on child marriage.

Morocco co-sponsored the 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022 UN General Assembly resolutions on child, early and forced marriage.

Morocco ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1993, which the Committee on the Rights of the Child has interpreted to recommend the establishment of a minimum age of marriage of 18, and acceded to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1993, which obligates states to ensure free and full consent to marriage. However, Morocco has entered a reservation against Article 2 CEDAW, on the right to non-discrimination, that it is willing to apply the provisions of this article, provided that they do not conflict with the provisions of the Islamic Shariah.

During its 2022 review, the CEDAW Committee expressed concern that there is no legal minimum age of marriage, and that child marriages take place in the form of Al-Fatiha marriages. The Committee recommended that the government put in place measures to prohibit Al-Fatiha marriages that involved a minor and to raise the legal minimum age to 18 years, without any exceptions.

During its 2014 review, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed regret that no specific measures had been taken to remove girls from forced marriages and that thousands of girls as young as 13 are married every year as a result of extensive derogations from the law by family judges.

During its 2017 Universal Periodic Review, Morocco agreed to examine recommendations to revise the Family Code to prohibit child marriage.

Morocco has not signed or ratified the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, including Article 6 which sets the minimum age for marriage as 18, or the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, including Article 21 regarding the prohibition of child marriage.

In April 2021, the Lions Club International – District 416 Morocco hosted a symposium addressing the issue of child marriage. The main aim of this symposium was to raise public awareness and educate the public on preventing early/forced marriages.

In early 2020, while announcing the number of child marriage requests in 2019, the Moroccan Ministry of Justice stated that considering the prevalence of child marriage, it could “no longer be considered an exception” and that it would require “horizontal intervention from all (state) sectors.”

In 2019, UNICEF launched the “Fight Against Sexual Violence Against Girls and Against Early Marriage” project which aims to promote positive social norms and a protective legal framework for girls against child marriage and sexual violence. However, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the full implementation of this project.

In 2015 Morocco adopted the Integrated Public Policy for Child Protection (PPIPEM) with technical support from UNICEF. It outlines plans to build an integrated child protection system that takes into consideration the institutional, social, economic, and cultural development of the country and to ensure an effective protective environment in accordance with national and international standards.

During the same year, Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane caused controversy by stating that there are no marriages of minors in Morocco and when child marriages do occur it is due to the choice of girls.

The La Rabita Mohammedia des Oulémas programme has engaged religious leaders and communities on gender-based violence, including child marriage. The programme has produced audio-visual aids to sensitise children to the impact of child marriage and includes a training mechanism to empower young men to teach children about human rights.

In 2004, the Moroccan Government introduced a new family code (Moudawana).

This law was aimed at increasing women’s rights and raising the minimum age for marriage from 15 to 18. However legal discretionary powers meant that girls may marry before 18 years with judicial consent.

A majority of child marriages take place within rural areas that are carried out under Al Fatiha, Muslim customary law and judges are forced to recognise marriage retrospectively.

In 2018 a new law on combatting violence against women was introduced, which marked a positive step forward in terms of defining and criminalising acts considered harassment, aggression, sexual exploitation and forced marriage of girls and women.

However, the law itself does not address child marriage or related issues of intimate partner violence that many child brides experience.