It’s one thing to talk about child marriage; it’s quite another to have experienced it, escaped it, and gone on to become a first lady who uses her political platform to advance the empowerment of women and girls, including the abolishment of child marriage.
And Fatima Maada Bio, first lady of Sierra Leone, doesn’t mince words when it comes to the practice of marrying children off before the age of 18.
“It's very important for people to understand that early marriage, in my own theory, is a legalized form of rape,” she told Devex by phone after a speech at Columbia University’s Teachers College in New York to mark International Women’s Day.
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About the author
Anna Gawel
Anna Gawel is the Managing Editor of Devex. She previously worked as the managing editor of The Washington Diplomat, the flagship publication of D.C.’s diplomatic community. She’s had hundreds of articles published on world affairs, U.S. foreign policy, politics, security, trade, travel and the arts on topics ranging from the impact of State Department budget cuts to Caribbean efforts to fight climate change. She was also a broadcast producer and digital editor at WTOP News and host of the Global 360 podcast. She holds a journalism degree from the University of Maryland in College Park.
