Moroccan Activists Fighting Against Child Marriage, Are Girls Safe In Morocco?

 

Women and girls are not safe in the North African nation of Morocco. To safeguard girls, Moroccan activists have been battling against child marriage.

Moroccan women’s rights advocates have been advocating for the elimination of child marriage and the importance of women’s empowerment.

Data released by the Moroccan Public Prosecution shows that between 2004 and 2019, child marriages accounted for 12% of all marriage agreements in Morocco.

Morocco has a high rate of child marriage, with many girls getting married as young as 15. 26,000 child marriage cases were reported in 2017. 12,000 instances of underage marriage were reported in 2020, while 19,000 cases were reported in 2021.

A fifteen-year-old girl married a man ten years her senior. She later filed for divorce due to physical abuse she had received from her husband. She was compelled to marry an older man after dropping out of school at an early age. She had no idea what marriage entailed when they were married.

The woman is twenty-five years old. She disclosed that she turned twenty-six years old.

A UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) research states that 14% of Moroccan women aged 20 to 24 were married for the first time before turning 18.