Sierra Leone’s President has approved a new law which gives women greater rights and recognises customary marriages – traditional marriages which have not been registered by the state. President Ernest Bai Koroma approved the Customary Marriage And Divorce Act today. He said there were many abuses against women because a good number of marriages were not registered. He also said that the government was committed to implementing the new law. The law gives customary marriages the same legal recognition as civil, Christian and Muslim marriages. It also allows District Councils to register marriages. Other changes include validating couples who have cohabited for more than five years, disallowing marriages in which couples are under 18 and making forced marriage illegal. – Panos, London.

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