Understanding the new law against child marriage in Sierra Leone

What is the new law on child marriage in Sierra Leone?

On 2nd July 2024, President Maada Bio of Sierra Leone signed The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2024 into law. We’ve analyzed some of the key provisions of the new law.

• Minimum age of marriage is 18, no exceptions 

The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act sets the age of marriage at 18 without exception harmonizing all laws in Sierra Leone. Prior to this, under the 2007 Child Rights Act, the minimum age of marriage was set at 18, but the Customary Marriage and Divorce Act (2009) allowed underage marriage with parental consent. The new law resolves this contradiction and prohibits marriage under the age of 18 years under all circumstances.

• Enforcing penalties for offenders

The new law provides for enforcing penalties on offenders (including parents and persons who conduct the marriage, prescribing a jail term of up to 15 years for offenders or fines of not less than 50,000 leones or both. It also provides for various categories of offense including attendance of child marriage ceremonies, cohabitation with a minor, or aiding and abetting the marriage of a child.

• Providing for annulment of child marriages from before the law passed

In cases where a marriage was contracted between a child and adult before the coming into force of this new law, the party who was a child at the time of the marriage is allowed to file for an annulment of the marriage through the filing of a petition. It further provides for compensation to be provided to the party who was /is a child. The nullity of the marriage does not affect the legitimacy of a child born to the union during the period of that marriage.

• Voiding all future marriages between an adult and a minor 

Marriages conducted between an adult and a minor, after the coming into force of this new law, are considered void.

• Protecting victim’s rights and providing support services 

The new law has in place judicial and social protection measures protecting victims’ rights including injunctions to prevent child marriage, and ensuring access to education and support services for young girls affected by child marriage.

What impact could this have on girls across Sierra Leone?

This new law will provide much-needed protection for children mostly girls whose rights are violated through child marriage. It is critical to note that Sierra Leone has high rates of child marriage with 30% of girls married before 18 and 9% before 15. The UNICEF global database notes that 400,000 girls in Sierra Leone have been married before the age of 15 years, destroying their childhood and denying them fundamental rights including the right to education.

How does this impact efforts to end child marriage across West Africa and beyond? 

This development is bound to impact the West African region and the broader continent, particularly owing to its sealing of all loopholes especially as presented through traditional or pluralistic systems. It also provides an impressive social protection system for victims of child marriage including compensation in the event of annulment of a marriage. This is critical since laws and policies on child marriage need to move beyond mere criminalization and include holistic, multi-sectoral approaches to addressing child marriage and its root causes.

What needs to happen now to ensure the law is implemented? 

The new law provides for enforcement by designating relevant officials to act as well as defining the offenses and the penalties. It provides clear accountability including through follow-up by non-state actors to ensure State Actors fulfill their obligations as provided in law.

In order to ensure the potential of this law is fully realized, we’re calling on the government of Sierra Leone to:

• Sensitize and conduct capacity-building sessions with duty bearers mandated under the new law to enforce its provisions such as the newly recruited social workers, child marriage prohibition officers, the police, lawyers, magistrates, judges and other justice chain actors.
• Make sufficient budgetary allocations for the full implementation of the law such as the establishment of safe homes and the provision of services for victims of child marriage such as counseling, recovery, rehabilitation, reintegration, and case management.

• Adopt a multi-sectoral approach to facilitating coordination and collaboration amongst various stakeholders to fully implement this law, as the new law mandates the child marriage prohibition officers to work with other stakeholders.
• Conduct intensive community sensitization to ensure that citizens know the new provisions of the law and change attitudes and social norms around child marriage.

How have Equality Now and our partners been working to end child marriage in Sierra Leone? 

Equality Now and its partners, Women Against Violence and Exploitation in Society (WAVES)  and Defence for Children International Sierra Leone (DCI-Sierra Leone), have been advocating for an unequivocal law banning child marriage and female genital mutilation in Sierra Leone as barriers to girls’ right to bodily integrity, right to education, and to enjoy their childhood.

We will continue to support the implementation of this new Child Marriage Act even as we call for the enactment of an anti-FGM legislation.