While in the time of our parents and grandparents, divorce was a taboo subject in Moroccan households, the new generation seems to be increasingly resorting to this form of rupture since the entry into force of the Moudawana in 2004. This state of affairs has favored a significant increase in the number of divorces each year, prompting the Ministry of Justice to propose measures aimed at reducing the extent of this phenomenon.
The empowerment of young people to marriage and conjugal life seems to be the beginning of a solution, and a process that arouses a certain optimism in the minister in charge, Abdellatif Ouahbi. The latter clearly affirmed this in an address read on his behalf during a signing ceremony for a partnership agreement between the Moroccan Association for Family Planning (AMPF), the National Order of Adouls in Morocco and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
The Minister thus insists on the importance of the empowerment sessions and on what they could bring as a contribution to the preparation of couples to “marital life, sex education, reproductive health and family planning“, considering that they will undoubtedly help in the construction ” healthy families and ensure their sustainability“.
They will constitute measures that will be able to help reduce the high number of divorces, he said.
However, the data shared by Ouahbi reveals that 269,978 marriage certificates were registered in 2021. For the minister, the increase in this number compared to 2004 is due to ” actions undertaken in terms of raising awareness of the provisions of the Moudawana and the awareness of citizens about the importance of authenticating marriage contracts to protect the rights of spouses and children“.
According to the Minister, several measures and procedures have been taken for the optimal implementation of the provisions related to this type of marriage while commending the efforts made by the authorities concerned leading to the realization of the ” very positive results”.
On the other hand, divorces in the form of “Talaq and Tatliq” recorded a slight decline from a total of 26,914 in 2004 to 20,372 in 2020. However, the year 2021 was marked by an increase in the number of divorces to reach 26,257 acts.
Ouahbi dissected the data by mentioning that in terms of amicable divorces, the cases increased from 1,860 in 2004 to 20,655 in 2021. This rupture by consent accounts for 77% of the total number of divorces in Morocco.
He also did not fail to recall the cases of minors in Morocco, while specifying that in 2017, 26,298 marriage certificates were registered at the level of minor couples, which makes a rate of 9.9% of the total. weddings in Morocco. On the other hand, this category experienced a decrease reaching in 2018 a total of 25,514, in 2019, 20,738 acts, a number of 12,600 in 2020 then a slight increase in 2021 recording a total of 19,393 acts, i.e. 7.2% of marriages in Kingdom.
In addition, 62,686 judgments were pronounced in 2021 against 7,213 judgments in 2004 in the context of the Tatliq divorce, whose divorces for discord represent 99% of its cases.
Ouahbi justifies this increase by multiple factors leading to the dissolution of the marriage, namely ” them representations about marriage, the underestimation of the repercussions of early marriage on physical and psychological health, and the absence of empowerment programs for future brides and grooms to make them aware of the importance of the institution of marriage and the family” .
That said, the Minister is optimistic about the results that can be achieved the signing of partnership agreements on the authorization of young people for marriage and the sessions, which will thus allow the beneficiaries to be prepared for the conjugal adventure that awaits them.