The phenomenon of underage marriages is still very common in Morocco. For Dr. Chakib Guessous, a recognized expert in this field, despite the persistent efforts to stop it, underage marriage will not disappear, even in 2070, which he talks about in his book “Mariages précoces”.

We got to ask Mr Guessous about what inspired him to study the phenomenon of early marriage since it is the subject of his new book. He stated that he was inspired by the fact that the age of marriage in Arab countries is going backwards. He talked about the personal  problems caused by early marriage.

“I spent 6 years writing this book, honestly I started writing it before my book « Mariage et concubinage dans les pays arabes », which is already published. Why all this time? Because I had to check all the information and references in it. I was also checking the accuracy of the results of the surveys conducted. Sometimes it was in English or Spanish and I had to ask for the professional translation. The marriage of minors is a socio-cultural phenomenon that is still going on.”

Mr Guessous elaborated more on the subject to show that this phenomenon is still very much alive and that many studies display it. Between cultural and economic factors, Mr Guessous walked us through his very instructive book that was published after years of hard work and endless studies to shed light on a very important matter. The book signing was held at the International Publishing and Book Fair, at Rabat, where book worms from all over the world gathered for such special event.