Sierra Leone Child Marriage Prosecution
A child marriage prosecution in Sierra Leone is testing what a new law can mean in practice.
Four people have been charged under Sierra Leone’s Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2024 in connection with alleged offences involving the marriage of a child.
The case deserves attention beyond Sierra Leone. Laws protecting children only become meaningful when adults who allegedly arrange, approve or facilitate child marriage can be investigated and, where the evidence supports it, brought before a court.
It is equally important to be precise. Those charged are accused of offences. They have not been convicted, and the allegations must now be determined through the legal process.
For Freedom Charity, the wider safeguarding principle is clear: a child’s right to choose should never depend on the wishes, reputation or approval of the adults around them.
What the child marriage prosecution involves
Prosecutors in Sierra Leone have charged four people under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2024, according to a public statement shared by the Office of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice. The alleged offences relate to contracting marriage with a child, consenting to child marriage, and aiding and abetting child marriage.
At this stage, legal accuracy matters. Charges are not convictions. The court must decide the evidence, and each defendant has the right to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence.
Even so, this child marriage prosecution matters. It shows that the state can treat child marriage as a safeguarding and criminal justice issue, not as a private family arrangement.
Why Sierra Leone’s child marriage law matters
Under [Sierra Leone’s Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2024](https://sierralii.gov.sl/akn/sl/act/2024/5/eng%402024-07-11), the law treats a child as a person below 18 and prohibits child marriage. The Act also creates offences linked to adult involvement, including consent, promotion, attendance, conspiracy, and aiding or abetting.
That structure matters because child marriage rarely depends on one adult acting alone. Families, community figures, witnesses and facilitators may all help to create the pressure around a child. A law that reaches only the person who marries the child can miss the machinery of harm.
This child marriage prosecution therefore tests more than one case. It tests whether the law can reach the adults around the abuse.
Why adult responsibility must be clear
Child marriage is not simply an early wedding. It can take away childhood, education, bodily autonomy and meaningful choice. A child should never carry the burden of an adult institution created by adults and enforced by adults.
For children, the issue is not ceremony. It is control.
Where a child cannot refuse, there is no real choice. Silence should never stand in for consent. Compliance may come from fear, dependence, grooming, family pressure, threats of shame or the belief that no safe adult will intervene.
Adults should never sacrifice a child to protect reputation.
Freedom Charity’s view on child marriage and forced marriage
Freedom Charity has long warned that child marriage and forced marriage are systems of control, not isolated events. The harm often begins before any ceremony takes place. It begins when adults remove a child’s right to choose.
Our position is clear. Child marriage is not consent. Forced marriage is not culture. The right to choose is not an adult privilege; it is a basic protection that must begin in childhood.
Freedom Charity’s work on [forced marriage](https://freedomcharity.org.uk/forced-marriage/), [female genital mutilation](https://freedomcharity.org.uk/female-genital-mutilation/), [PSHE safeguarding education](https://freedomcharity.org.uk/pshe-educational-resources/) and [professional training](https://freedomcharity.org.uk/professionals/) exists because prevention can stop harm before it becomes irreversible.
Children need language to describe what is happening, trusted adults who will listen and safe routes to help.
Why the Sierra Leone case matters beyond Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone has an urgent reason to act. [UNFPA and UNICEF state](https://sierraleone.unfpa.org/en/news/government-sierra-leone-launches-phase-three-unfpa-unicef-global-programme-end-child-marriage) that one in three girls in Sierra Leone marry before the age of 18.
Behind that figure are children whose education, safety and future choices can be affected because adults make decisions for them too soon.
The lesson also reaches the United Kingdom. In 2023, [GOV.UK confirmed](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/legal-age-of-marriage-in-england-and-wales-rises-to-18) that England and Wales changed the law so that 16 and 17-year-olds can no longer marry or enter a civil partnership, even with parental consent.
That reform was essential, but legislation alone cannot identify every child at risk.
Schools, police, health professionals, social workers and community leaders still need to recognise warning signs and respond early. Safeguarding systems need to understand how family pressure can operate long before a proposed marriage is disclosed.
Adult approval cannot turn abuse into marriage.
What safeguarding professionals should learn
Professionals should ask one direct question when child marriage risk appears:
Was the child ever free to choose?
That question matters more than whether a child cried, objected or asked for help in the “right” words.
Many children do not disclose risk directly. Some test adults with small comments. Others remain silent because they fear what will happen to themselves or their family if they speak.
A child should not have to prove terror before the state recognises risk.
Freedom Charity’s safeguarding approach places freedom at the centre: freedom to choose, freedom to refuse, freedom to leave, freedom to learn and freedom to be.
Child marriage threatens every one of those freedoms.
Child marriage prosecution: the real test
A prosecution does not prove guilt. It does, however, demonstrate that alleged breaches of the law can be brought before a court.
When prosecutors pursue people accused of arranging, consenting to or facilitating child marriage, the legal system sends an important message: children are not property, family status does not remove their rights, and a ceremony cannot manufacture genuine consent.
The real measure of Sierra Leone’s Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2024 will not be how powerful it sounds on paper.
Its success will depend on whether children at risk can be identified early, whether professionals act when concerns emerge, whether allegations are properly investigated and whether courts can hold offenders accountable when offences are proved.
The ultimate measure is prevention.
The best outcome is not simply a successful prosecution after a child has been harmed. It is protecting the next child before a marriage takes place.
A child’s right to choose cannot wait until adulthood when adults have already taken childhood from them.
FAQ
What is a child marriage prosecution?
A child marriage prosecution is a criminal case concerning alleged offences linked to the marriage of a person under 18. In Sierra Leone, the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2024 also addresses wider adult involvement, including consenting to, facilitating and aiding or abetting child marriage.
Why does Sierra Leone’s child marriage prosecution matter?
The prosecution matters because it tests whether Sierra Leone’s 2024 law can protect children in practice. It also demonstrates that alleged involvement by adults surrounding a child marriage can be subject to legal scrutiny.
Is child marriage the same as forced marriage?
Child marriage and forced marriage are closely connected, but the legal definitions are not necessarily identical in every jurisdiction. Both raise serious concerns about meaningful choice, particularly where family pressure, fear, dependency, threats or coercion are involved.
What is Freedom Charity’s position on Sierra Leone’s child marriage prosecution?
Freedom Charity believes every child has the right to safety, education, bodily autonomy and freedom to choose. Child marriage should never be treated as a private family matter where a child’s rights and safety are at risk.
Aneeta Prem MBE
Founder of Freedom Charity
London
27 June 2026