Moroccan Courts Tackled Over 23,000 Violence Cases Against Women in 2021

Casablanca – Despite implementing the 103-13 law on combating violence against women in Morocco, which came into force in 2018, violence is still prevalent throughout the country.

In 2021 alone, the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Morocco dealt with no less than 23,879 cases of violence against women, King’s Attorney General at the Court of Cassation Moulay El Hassan Daki said.

Daki provided this data at a training session on September 29 in Marrakech on “Strengthening the Role of Public Prosecution Judges in Providing Effective Women’s Protection.”

“Violence against women is an obstacle to the achievement of social peace,” the Chief of the Court of Cassation said, emphasizing that this figure challenges and inspires all stakeholders to redouble their efforts to discover the causes of this violence.

“So far the legislator has done his job. Law 103-13 on combating violence against women, which came into force in 2018, is indeed, a revolution in the Moroccan legal arsenal. It has enabled the Kingdom to have a comprehensive legal framework to fight against violence against women in all its forms,” Daki continued.

Confirming this data, Morocco’s General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) has reported 61,388 occurrences of all sorts of violence against women in Morocco since the beginning of 2021.

During his speech, Daki attributed the rise of the cases of violence against women in Morocco to the issue of underage marriage.

Describing underage marriage as a violation against young girls’ rights, Daki said that Morocco’s Public Prosecution has prioritized the battle against child marriage.

Daki cited that Moroccan courts recorded an increase in the number of rejections of applications for the marriage of minors from 12,773 in 2020 to 20,200 the following year.

According to Morocco’s Minister of Family and Social Integration Aouatif Hayat, marriage permissions are only granted if the individual is 17.5 years old or older.