'A glimmer of hope': Sierra Leone’s landmark ruling against the ban on pregnant schoolgirls

Written by Genevieve Skudder

Edited by Diana Ciurezu

A regional Court in Nigeria has found that a ban preventing pregnant girls from attending school and sitting exams is unlawful.

The 2015 ban in Sierra Leone was based on the discriminatory belief that women should not attend school during or after pregnancy. Patience, a student affected by the ban, told the Guardian that she welcomed the court’s decision to lift the ban which prevented her attending university and pursuing a career in nursing; the ban which had no effect on her daughter’s father, who ‘was able to continue to do everything he wanted to do’.

Chernor Bah, activist and co-founder of Purposeful Productions, explained how this ruling will allow the country to ‘address the underlying issue of powerlessness of girls in our society and patriarchal attitudes’.

Furthermore, it is hoped it will help to destigmatise teen pregnancy – rates of which are extremely high in Sierra Leone – removing the shame that has led to such degrading and dehumanising treatment of these girls.

Whilst the ruling will be particularly beneficial to the thousands affected within the country, it is believed it will set a strong precedent across other countries in Africa, too. Notably, Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea have also implemented similar rules.

Marta Colomer, Amnesty International’s West and Central Africa’s Acting Deputy Director, said ‘thousands of girls who have been excluded from school, and whose right to access education without discrimination has been violated for the past four years because of this inherently discriminatory ban.’ She explained, ‘it is also a glimmer of hope for all those girls, who if pregnant in the future, will not be punished by being forced to leave school and not being able to sit exams.’

Whilst this change must be celebrated, Bah has warned that there is still more to be done in order to establish girls as ‘equals’ in male-dominated societies – but for now, this is ‘moving in the right direction’.