Sierra Leone Prosecutes First Case Under New Child Marriage Ban

Four men—including a 17-year-old girl's father and alleged husband—appeared in Freetown's High Court on charges of forced marriage, marking the first prosecution under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2024. Passed in June and signed by President Julius Maada Bio in July, the law criminalized child marriage for the first time in Sierra Leone, ending a legal void where customary and Islamic practice prevailed. The case tests whether courts will enforce the statute against customary traditions that normalized early marriage.