Our Story
Sierra Leone has the 19th highest rate of child marriage in the world, with 12.5 per cent of women aged between 20–24 years marrying before the age of 15 years, and 38.9 per cent of women in the same age bracket marrying before the age of 18 years. Considering that 24 per cent of Sierra Leone’s 7 million population are adolescents, of which roughly half are girls, this amounts to approximately 330,000 affected girls.
Child marriage is typically higher in rural areas because of greater adherence to traditional norms, a narrower range of life options, stronger community networks, lower educational opportunities, and higher levels of poverty.
Sierra Leone is ranked 181 in the 2018 Gender Inequality Index (A composite measure reflecting inequality in achievement between women and men in three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and the labour market)