Over half of the West African girls interviewed in Spain noted escaping marriage as the primary – or sole – reason for leaving home. For 15-year-old Adrienne from Cote d’Ivoire, it was her brother’s initiative for her to fly to Morocco when her grandfather insisted on marrying her at age 12. For some older girls, it was their own decision; they chose to migrate rather than be forced to marry, telling very few people, or no one, of their plans, fearing being caught and punished – or even beaten or tortured. Child marriage was seldom mentioned by Moroccan girls as being a motive for emigrating.
from: “Girls on the move in North Africa” (SAVE THE CHILDREN).
