Final week, Sierra Leone’s parliament enacted landmark laws to ban youngster marriage. The Prohibition of Child Marriage Bill 2024, which makes marriage for anybody below 18 a prison offense, seeks to guard women from a dangerous follow that has lengthy violated their rights and hindered their improvement.
Youngster marriage is a significant issue in Sierra Leone, where 30 percent of girls and 4 percent of boys are married before age 18, with even larger charges in rural areas. Round 800,000 women are presently married in Sierra Leone, half earlier than turning 15.
Youngster marriages gas the excessive adolescent being pregnant price in Sierra Leone the place, tragically, being pregnant problems are the main reason behind loss of life for ladies aged 15-19.
The brand new regulation prohibits all types of youngster marriage and cohabitation with a baby, together with aiding and abetting, protects the very best pursuits of youngsters, and ensures affected women have entry to counseling and safeguarding. The regulation amends current laws, together with the Youngster Rights and Registration of Customary Marriage Acts, to harmonize the authorized framework on marriage and break the cycle of early marriage and its devastating penalties.
The regulation additionally builds on Sierra Leone’s efforts to protect young girls from marriage and tackle barriers to girls’ education. A brand new schooling regulation, adopted in 2023, ensures youngsters 13 years of free schooling, together with one 12 months of preprimary schooling in addition to secondary schooling.
The First Girl’s “Hands Off Our Girls” campaign has been instrumental in advocating towards youngster marriage.
The laws is a milestone in Sierra Leone’s journey in the direction of gender equality and youngster safety. It additionally units a pathway ahead for different African nations, resembling Tanzania and Zambia, to revoke legal guidelines that let youngster marriage, and guarantee women can full main and secondary schooling.
Now, Sierra Leone’s authorities ought to increase consciousness, significantly in rural areas, in regards to the new regulation and the dangerous results of kid marriage. The federal government must also deal with different prevalent dangerous practices linked to child marriage, resembling feminine genital mutilation. It ought to collaborate with native communities, nongovernmental teams, and worldwide organizations to publicly marketing campaign in regards to the harms related to youngster marriage, whereas additionally offering assist companies for married youngsters and youngsters liable to youngster marriage.
The federal government will even must proceed specializing in protecting women in class, whereas it develops sustainable financial alternatives and social applications that empower women and their households.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW).