Sierra Leone has passed a historic bill to ban child marriage after girls across the country and Save the Children joined a campaign to criminalise the widespread practice.
TheHintsNews reports that Sierra Leone has one of the highest child marriage, early pregnancy and maternal mortality rates in the world, with about one-third of girls married before the age of 18, and another third giving birth before the age of 19, according to the Ministry of Health.
Save the Children Sierra Leone Country Director, Patrick Analo in a statement issued Friday said the Prohibition of Child Marriage Bill 2024 seeks to criminalise the act of marrying or entering into a union with a child under the age of 18.
He said it also includes provisions for enforcing penalties on offenders, protecting victims’ rights, and ensuring access to education and support services for young girls affected by early child marriage.
Analo said: “This is a historic moment and an extraordinary achievement for children across Sierra Leone who have campaigned for their rights.
“Girls who are married young are not only robbed of their childhoods – they are robbed of their futures. They experience lifelong harm to their physical and mental health; are barred from opportunities to learn, grow, play and develop; shut out from 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.”
Earlier this year, 19-year-old Kuji, a campaigner with Save the Children, told the child rights organisation how she managed to stop her 15-year-old cousin Kpemeh’s marriage and support her to return to school.
This led to Kpemeh also training to be a Save the Children champion and joining her cousin in successfully campaigning to all the chiefs in their district in eastern Sierra Leone to ban the practice.
Kpemeh said: “Those of us who are under 18 should steer clear of early marriage. Whenever I share this message, people listen and abandon such practices.”