Invited guests, including first ladies from Cape Verde and Namibia, watched as her husband President Julius Maada Bio signed the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act into law.
Anybody now involved in the marriage of a girl aged under the age of 18 will be jailed for at least 15 years or fined around $ 4,000 (£3,200), or both.
University student Khadijatu Barrie, whose sister was married off at 14, told the BBC she welcomed the ban but wished it had come in to save her younger sibling.
“I really wish it had happened earlier. I could have at least saved my sister and my friends and other neighbours,” the 26-year-old gender studies undergraduate said.
Sierra Leone is a patriarchal society and it is common for a father to give his daughter’s hand in marriage forcibly.
Ms Barrie faced this prospect aged 10. She resisted it and fled the family home after her father disowned her.
She was lucky enough to find teachers who paid for her school fees and a sympathetic worker from the UN children's agency who helped her out with accommodation.
But she says it is difficult for those who live in rural areas to buck tradition and every community will need to be informed about the new law for it to be effective.
“If everyone understands what's there waiting for you in case you do it I'm sure this country will be a better one,” Ms Barrie said.
The ministry of health estimates that a third of girls are married off before they turn 18, accounting for the country’s high number of maternal deaths - among the highest in the world.
Those who face punishment under the new rules include the groom, the parents or guardians of the child bride, and even those who attend the wedding.
Mrs Bio, who has been at the forefront in campaigning against sexual abuse since her husband became president six years ago, wanted the signing of the bill to be a big occasion.
Since MPs passed the legislation a few weeks ago, it has not received much coverage locally.
Sierra Leone presidency President Julius Maada Bio signs the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act into lawSierra Leone presidency
President Julius Maada Bio's daughter was at the signing ceremony
At the ceremony, President Bio said that his “motivation and commitment to empowering women and girls is firmly rooted in my personal life journey”.
His eight-year-old daughter was amongst those who watched him sign the bill.
The 60-year-old president explained how he had lost his father at an early age and had been brought up by his mother and later his elder sister who “supported and encouraged me to pursue my dreams to the best of my ability”.
He acknowledged his wife’s commitment to championing women’s rights: “Together, we want to build an empowered Sierra Leone where women are given an even platform to reach their full potential. I have always believed that the future of Sierra Leone is female.”
Rights activists reacted favourably to the lawm, calling it a watershed moment.
On their X page, the US Bureau of African Affairs welcomed the passage of the bill saying the “significant milestone not only protects girls but promotes robust human rights protections”.
UNICEF defines child marriage as marriage before 18 years of age and considers this practice as violation of human right. Child marriage has been an issue in India for a long time, because of its root in traditional, cultural and religious protection it has been hard battle to fight. According to 2001 census there are 1.5 millions of girls in India under the age of 15 years already married. Some of the harmful consequences of such child marriage are that, child loses opportunities for education and segregation from family and friends, sexual exploitation, early pregnancy and health risks, child more vulnerable to domestic violence, higher infant mortality rate, low weight babies, pre-mature birth etc.[
Child marriages are prevalent in India. Estimates vary widely between sources as to the extent and scale of child marriages. A 2015–2016 UNICEF report estimated that India's child marriage rate is 27%. The Census of India has counted and reported married women by age, with proportion of females in child marriage falling in each 10 year census period since 1981. In its 2001 census report, India stated zero married girls below the age of 10, 1.4 million married girls out of 59.2 million girls aged 10–14, and 11.3 million married girls out of 46.3 million girls aged 15–19.Times of India reported that 'since 2001, child marriage rates in India have fallen by 46% between 2005 and 2009. Jharkhand is the state with highest child marriage rates in India (14.1%), while Kerala is the only state where child marriage rates have increased in recent years. Jammu and Kashmir was reported to be the only state with lowest child marriage cases at 0.4% in 2009. Rural rates of child marriages were three times higher than urban India rates in 2009.
Child marriage was outlawed in 1929, under Indian law. However, in British colonial times, the legal minimum age of marriage was set at 14 for girls and 18 for boys. Under protests from Muslim organizations in undivided British India, a personal law Sharia Act was passed in 1937 that allowed child marriages with consent from a girl's guardian. After India's independence in 1947, the act underwent two revisions. The minimum legal age for marriage was increased to 15 for girls in 1949, and to 18 for females and 21 for males in 1978. The child marriage prevention laws have been challenged in Indian courts,[5] with some Muslim Indian organizations seeking no minimum age and that the age matter be left to their personal law. Child marriage is an active political subject as well as a subject of continuing cases under review in the highest courts of India.
Several states of India have introduced incentives to delay marriages. For example, the state of Haryana introduced the Apni Beti, Apna Dhan program in 1994, which translates to "My daughter, My wealth". It is a conditional cash transfer program dedicated to delaying young marriages by providing a government paid bond in her name, payable to her parents, in the amount of ₹25,000 (US$300), after her 18th birthday if she is not married.
