The parliamentary team of the National Assembly of Free People proposed a law to prevent or abolish this type of marriage according to the Family Code.“.
What does the new proposal include?
- He calls for the abolition of Article 20 of the Family Code, which authorizes the family judge in charge of marriage to authorize the marriage of a boy and girl under the age of eligibility, based on a set of conditions and data.
- In the event of annulment, the age of marriage will be set at eighteen years for both boys and girls, which is what a number of activists seek..
- Official data indicate that “in 2017, 26,000 minors were married, before the number decreased to 12,000 in 2020, only to rise again in 2021, to reach 19,000 marriages.”.
“Minor’s place is in school”
The document of the “Al-Ahrar” team, which was seen by “Sky News Arabia”, stressed:
- The need to reduce the phenomenon of underage marriage, given that the natural place for girls and boys is school, and not early marriage.
- Studies show that 99 percent of these marriages fail.”
- “Although the task of eliminating this phenomenon seems almost impossible, it is possible to engage in it and reduce it, by raising awareness and enacting strict laws in this regard.”“.
- In this regard, the team leading the majority considered that the abolition of Article 20 of the Family Code comes so that the “exception” does not turn into the origin of the rule.“.
Why does child marriage continue? .. The head of the Moroccan Center for Human Rights, Abd al-Ilah al-Khudari, revealed in statements to “Sky News Arabia” the reasons that led to the spread of this phenomenon, saying:
- It was found, through a previous field study conducted by the center, that the issue of underage marriage is “a cultural issue and a traditional custom among large segments of the population of remote, marginalized areas, and even seasonal celebrations are held for this, such as the Imilchil season in the High Atlas (center), in which no brides will be seen.” Only minors.
- “The motives for marrying underage girls are linked to the lifestyle and living conditions of these social strata.”
- “As long as the social and economic situation of this group remains the same, and opportunities for education, supervision, rehabilitation, and inclusion in development programs are not provided for the benefit of village girls there, the phenomenon will continue and grow even more, despite setting the legal age for marriage at 18.”
“Exception becomes the rule”
For his part, the Secretary-General of the Moroccan Association for Young Adults, Abdel Razzak Bouita, explained that “the intention of the Moroccan legislator, through the Family Code, is to facilitate the marriage of minors in exceptional cases only, and this is done only with the permission of the judge in charge of marriage.”.
In his most prominent statements to Sky News Arabia, he said:
- “We note that the matter has deviated from its main significance, and the reality says that the exception has become the norm. Change, in my opinion, requires opening a societal dialogue in which all professions related to the matter participate, and finding solutions that address the problem from its societal and cultural roots.”
- “The problem is not related to drafting legal texts to achieve the goal, but to address matters radically.”
Criminalizing the marriage of minors
In a related context, the Moroccan Minister of Justice, Abdel Latif Wehbe, announced his “support” for the voices calling for the criminalization of the marriage of minors, within the framework of the Moroccan legislator’s approach to reviewing the Family Code in order to implement the royal directives..
In his answer to a parliamentary question during the weekly oral questions session in the House of Representatives, in late November, the government official called for “the cancellation of the judicial permission to marry minors.”
Wehbe added, “I am with the criminalization of underage marriage, and with the abolition of the permission given by the judge, because a minor must not marry until she reaches the age of 18. This is my absolute conviction.”“.
Jurist optimism
- A state of optimism and anticipation prevails in Moroccan human rights movements regarding the possibility of abolishing the marriage of minors, especially after the Moroccan Public Prosecution Office announced that it had prepared a plan as a road map to address the marriage of minors, which affects ensuring that children exercise their full rights..
- The King’s Attorney General (Prosecutor General) at the Court of Cassation, Head of the Moroccan Public Prosecution Office, Hassan El Daki, revealed that “the plan included measures aimed at narrowing the opportunities for granting licenses to those wishing to marry a minor, by subjecting them to social and psychological research.”
- It also included “ensuring that discontinuation of studies is not required for the minor wife, and setting the age of 17 years for marriage, and not less than that.”
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