By Prosper Ishaya
In February 2019, the world’s attention turned to Sierra Leone when President Julius Maada Bio declared a national emergency owing to an epidemic of sexual violence in the country. According to statistics, Sierra Leone recorded over 8,500 occurrences of sexual abuse in 2018, representing a 67% increase from the previous year, with the majority of the victims being girls under the age of 15.
Despite the existence of a 2007 Child Rights Act setting the minimum marriage age at 18, a contradictory 2009 Customary Marriage and Divorce Act still allowed for the marriage of underage children with parental or community consent. This legal loophole was just one example of the ingrained societal issues that allowed sexual abuse against girls to persist.
While President Bio’s proclamation of a state of emergency in 2019 marked a critical moment for the country, strengthening legal protections, increasing support services for survivors, and spurring a broader societal reckoning on these human rights violations, the small West African nation with a population of about 8 million is still home to 800,000 child brides, making it the 19th country globally with the highest child marriage rate, per a United Nations report.
This figure, together with the country’s long history of combating sexual violence, provided the right foundation for the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act. The new measure, which President Bio introduced and signed on July 2, 2024, criminalises the act of marriage or romantic partnership with anyone (male or female) under 18. The historic bill stipulates that perpetrators, witnesses, guests, and even participants in child marriages could face a jail term of up to 15 years and/or be billed a fine of $4000. The bill also includes provisions for safeguarding victims’ rights, guaranteeing access to education, and establishing support services for young girls impacted by child marriage.
Experts and international organisations consider the adoption of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act a revolutionary moment for the women of Sierra Leone. For far too long, the age-old practice of child marriage has disproportionately harmed the country’s female population, and some argue that with this legislation, the country takes an important step towards lowering its high maternal mortality rate. According to reports, adolescent pregnancy has been a major contributor to these concerning maternal health outcomes.
While Sierra Leone appears to have taken a huge leap towards ending the primitive practice, the majority of Sub-Saharan Africa still lags. According to data from Girls Not Brides, 9 of the top 10 countries with the highest rates of child marriage globally are located in Sub-Saharan Africa. Child Marriage Data Portal reports the region as having a 31 percent share of the global child marriage rate.
Of the 31 percent of child marriages in Sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria accounts for 16 percent.
Similar to Sierra Leone, Nigeria enacted a Child Rights Act in 2003 to protect children’s rights, prevent abuse, and promote the well-being and development of Nigerian minors.
However, despite the law’s lofty goals, it has struggled to garner widespread acceptance. Only 24 of the country’s 36 states have passed the 2003 Child Rights Act into law. This suggests that the remaining 12 still adhere to conventional customs regarding children’s rights and welfare.
In terms of child marriage, the 2003 Act makes it illegal to marry anybody under the age of 18, and such marriages are declared null and void. It imposes a punishment of N500,000 or five years in prison, or both, on individuals involved in child marriage or betrothal. However, because its provisions have not been domesticated across the country, child marriage has remained prevalent in some areas.
According to a UNICEF study, 4 out of every 10 girls in Nigeria are married before the age of 18, amounting to over 24 million child brides in the country. Another report by the same organisation projects the country to have more than 29 million child brides by 2050, should the trend continue.
Though civil rights groups and initiatives have consistently called for the implementation of the Child Rights Act and at once an end to Child Marriage across Nigeria’s 36 states, there has been strong opposition from religious bodies and traditionalists, particularly in northern Nigeria. It should in fact be noted that all non-adopting states of the 2003 Child Rights Acts are those bound by the Islamic Sharia law. A law which doesn’t specifically spell out a minimum age of marriage of individuals.
A robust child marriage prohibition bill like that in Sierra Leone could provide a more effective legal framework for Nigeria to address child marriage and ensure the well-being of survivors if adopted. The challenge, however, lies in determining how such a framework could be effectively implemented.
What Can Nigeria Learn From Sierra Leone?
While the passage of the child marriage prohibition bill in Sierra Leone marks a vital first step, it only lays the groundwork for effective implementation, from which any measure of success would emerge. However, Sierra Leone’s approach to addressing child marriage offers a valuable case study with nuanced lessons that could inform Nigeria’s strategy.
For instance, the Sierra Leonean model places a strong emphasis on enforcement mechanisms, ensuring that all violators, down to guests participating in child marriage occasions, face penalties. Nigeria could adopt similar enforcement provisions, backed by the political will needed to follow through.
Additionally, the Sierra Leonean framework incorporates comprehensive victim support services, from medical and psychosocial care to educational and economic empowerment programs. Ensuring a similarly holistic approach in Nigeria’s efforts to support child marriage survivors would be crucial to addressing their complex and diverse needs.
Perhaps most importantly, the Sierra Leonean approach underscores the importance of broad, multi-stakeholder collaboration.
“Fostering partnerships between government, civil society, and community leaders is key to driving cultural shifts and behavioural change. Nigeria would do well to emulate such collaborative approach to tackle the deep-rooted social norms that perpetuate child marriage,” says Ruth Okafor, Program Manager, Galvanizing Mass Action Against Gender-Based Violence in Kano State (GMAA-K).
Speaking in an interview with Social Voices, she emphasised the need for to Nigeria adopt an inclusive approach that involves not just legal reforms but also societal change.
“Engaging communities in dialogue, respecting cultural nuances while advocating for the rights of young girls, and ensuring that the law is uniformly enforced across all states are essential steps towards actualizing this,” Okafor said.
On its journey to reformation, Nigeria must note some limitations particular to the new Sierra Leonean bill.
For example, while Sierra Leone’s bill outlaws the act of marriage or cohabitation with minors, it doesn’t discuss prohibitions against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), an harmful act which often serves as a precursor to these unions. And Nigeria like Sierra Leone has a high FGM prevalence in some parts of the country. By also terminating the practice in its bill, Nigeria could extensively curb this other violent practice against girls and women.
Furthermore, the Sierra Leonean bill fails to clearly address how the law would be enforced, with no details on support networks tailored to child victims. The bill also does not address community resistance or clarify the present monitoring systems. In contrast, Nigeria’s approach could more comprehensively outline how these goals could be implemented in practice.
Another limitation in the Sierra Leone bill sits in ambiguities in certain provisions, such as penalties for parents and guardians who consent to child marriages. These provisions may be subject to interpretation. This means the Act presumes consent unless proven otherwise, which could lead to legal ambiguities and challenges in court.
For less ambiguity, Nigeria could explicitly detail the nuances of such cases. Nigeria could also account for legal recourses to previously held child marriages, another case that the Sierra Leonean bill does not cover.
Nigeria can benefit from these insights by making sure that its approach to combating child marriage is both comprehensive and adaptable. By integrating legal reforms with community education, support services for victims, and international collaboration, Nigeria can create a more effective framework for addressing this critical issue.
It must be noted that while legislative action is vital, it must be accompanied by widespread societal change and robust support systems. By learning from Sierra Leone’s experiences and pitfalls, Nigeria —and the rest Sub-Saharan Africa— can emulate or perhaps adopt a more effective strategy to safeguard the rights and futures of its young girls. As Sierra Leone awakens, Nigeria and the rest of Africa must also rise and follow suit.