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, 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 removes childhood, education, bodily autonomy and meaningful consent. A child cannot 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, female genital mutilation, PSHE safeguarding education and professional training exists because prevention saves lives. Children need language, trusted adults and safe routes to help before abuse becomes irreversible.
Why the Sierra Leone case matters beyond Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone has an urgent reason to act. UNFPA and UNICEF state that one in three girls in Sierra Leone marry before the age of 18. Behind that figure are children who lose education, safety and future choice because adults decide too soon for them.
The lesson also reaches the United Kingdom. In 2023, GOV.UK confirmed 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 the law alone cannot protect every child.
Schools, police, health professionals, social workers and community leaders still need training. Safeguarding systems must spot pressure early. Communities must hear the message clearly: 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 stay silent because they fear family consequences.
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 attacks every one of those freedoms.
Child marriage prosecution: the real test
A prosecution does not prove guilt. It does, however, show seriousness.
When prosecutors pursue those who allegedly arrange, consent to or facilitate child marriage, the law sends a strong message. Children are not property. Family status does not excuse abuse. Ceremony does not create 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 professionals believe children, courts hold adults to account and safeguarding systems protect the next girl before a ceremony takes place.
A child’s right to choose cannot wait until adulthood when adults have already taken childhood from her.
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 2024 Act also addresses wider adult involvement, including consent and aiding or abetting.
Why does Sierra Leone’s child marriage prosecution matter?
Sierra Leone’s child marriage prosecution matters because it tests whether a new law can protect children in practice. It also shows why adults who arrange, approve or facilitate child marriage must face legal scrutiny.
Is child marriage the same as forced marriage?
Child marriage and forced marriage are closely connected because both remove meaningful choice. A child cannot give the same free and informed consent as an adult, especially where family pressure, fear or dependency exists.
What is Freedom Charity’s position on Sierra Leone Child Marriage Prosecution?
Freedom Charity believes child marriage is not consent and forced marriage is not culture. Every child has the right to safety, education, bodily autonomy and freedom to choose.
Aneeta Prem MBE JP, Founder of Freedom Charity London 27 June 2026