Rights groups urge end to child marriage exceptions after rise in court requests

Moroccan child rights associations renewed calls to end legal exceptions allowing child marriage after official data showed a renewed rise in court requests to authorize marriages involving minors in 2024.

According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office annual report on the implementation of criminal policy, courts registered 16,960 requests for authorization to marry minors in 2024, an increase of nearly 11 percent compared with 2023.

The figure rose by 1,641 cases from the previous year, following a decline recorded in 2023, when 15,319 requests were filed, down from 19,848 in 2022.

Although the report said prosecutors sought to reject authorization in the majority of cases, rights groups said the continued volume of requests highlights limits in the current legal framework.

Ghizlane Mamouni, head of the association Kif Mama Kif Baba, said the renewed increase reflects the absence of decisive legislative reform.

In a statement to Hespress, said that as long as the law allows exceptions, temporary declines in figures cannot be considered lasting progress.

Mamouni called for an explicit ban on marriage under the age of 18 without exceptions, arguing that judicial authorization has turned an exception into a widespread practice. She said the legal age of adulthood should apply consistently to marriage, given the legal, social and health responsibilities involved.

She also urged authorities to criminalize informal child marriages, including unregistered unions, saying tolerance of such practices undermines legal protections.

Laila Amili, head of the Ayadi Horra association, said the 2024 figures present a troubling contradiction between official commitments to combat child marriage and the rise in authorization requests.

She said nearly 17,000 requests in a single year should be treated as a serious social indicator linked to poverty, school dropout and persistent social norms. While acknowledging stricter scrutiny by prosecutors, Amili said approving more than 10,000 requests shows that the legal exception has become a social norm.

She called for the repeal of Article 20 of the Family Code and urged a comprehensive public policy approach centered on girls’ rights to education, safety and childhood.