Sierra Leone’s parliament has passed legislation to eliminate child marriage, marking a significant achievement for the country amid severe economic challenges.
The new law makes it illegal to marry girls under 18 years old and imposes penalties of up to 15 years in prison for offenders.
Child marriage has been a pervasive issue in several African regions, including Central and Western Africa.
According to UNICEF, one-third of girls in Sierra Leone are married before their 18th birthday. The country has approximately 800,000 child brides, with 400,000 of them married before they turn 15, as reported by the UN agency.
Shortly after the historic law was announced, the First Lady of the Republic Of Sierra Leone, Fatima Maada Bio, took to X, formally known as Twitter, to express her delight over the matter.
https://twitter.com/FirstLadyBio/status/1803939797586649286?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1803939797586649286%7Ctwgr%5Efd17450e3982c77919194fb9b44516f1a8c23494%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Furl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FFirstLadyBio%2Fstatus%2F1803939797586649286“Sierra Leone’s Parliament today unanimously passed the Prohibition of Child Marriage Bill 2024, a crucial piece of legislation that I championed. This private member’s bill outlaws child marriage, a harmful practice that has long plagued the nation,” the First Lady of the African nation wrote on X.
In a statement issued during the weekend, Patrick Analo, Save the Children country director in Sierra Leone, said the bill is an extraordinary achievement for children across the country who have campaigned for their rights.
“Girls who are married young are not only robbed of their childhoods – they are robbed of their futures,” Analo said.
“They experience lifelong harm to their physical and mental health; are barred from opportunities to learn, grow, play, and develop; and are shut out of future educational and economic opportunities that also impact their families and communities.
“Children have now stood up and said, ‘Give us our futures back.’ And thanks to them, this will be a new reality for nearly four million children across Sierra Leone.”
Save the Children said it worked with the First Lady, the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs, and other organisations to end child marriage in the country.
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