Unearthing the Customary Law Foundations of Forced Marriages during Sierra Leone's Civil War: The Possible Impact of International Criminal Law on Customary Marriage and Women's Rights in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone
![handle is hein.journals/coljgl15 and id is 547 raw text is:
UNEARTHING THE CUSTOMARY LAW
FOUNDATIONS OF FORCED MARRIAGES
DURING SIERRA LEONE'S CIVIL WAR: THE
POSSIBLE IMPACT OF INTERNATIONAL
CRIMINAL LAW ON CUSTOMARY MARRIAGE
AND WOMEN'S RIGHTS IN POST-CONFLICT
SIERRA LEONE
KARINE BtLAIR*
[T]here was, in the olden days, marriage by capture. The
Protectorate of Sierra Leone was, up to the turn of this century, the battle
ground for tribal wars. Men saw in these wars an opportunity of winning
wives for themselves. An attack upon a town or village resulted in the
extermination of the male inhabitants and the capture of the women, who
subsequently became the wives of their conquerors. No requirement was
essential for the validity of such marriage other than a public declaration
by the captor of his intention to cohabit with his captive followed by actual
cohabitation. Such wife was, however, regarded as a slave .... Nowadays,
there are no longer inter-tribal wars in the country and, with the abolition
of slavery in 1928, this kind of marriage no longer exists. ,
I.S. .... abducted and gang raped by the West Side Boys from
January to August 1999, explained how Commander Blood had initiated
the wife selection process. One of the commanders said he was going to
* B.C.L., L.L.B., McGill University, 2000-2003. Awarded the Elizabeth Torrance
Gold Medal (highest ranking student throughout the programme); Quebec Bar Admission,
2003-2004; Clerk to the Honourable Ian Binnie, Supreme Court of Canada, 2004-2005. The
author would like to acknowledge the helpful comments on an earlier draft of this Article by
Professor Rend Provost, of McGill Faculty of Law, and members of the Coalition for
Women's Human Rights in Conflict Situations, Anne Saris and Isabelle Solon-Helal. The
author thanks Andrea Saavedra, and her editorial staff of the Columbia Journal of Gender
and Law, for their assistance during the editorial process. The author is grateful to her
family, especially her mother, Christiane Carrire, for her constant support.
1H. M. JOKO SMART, SIERRA LEONE CUSTOMARY LAW 28-29 (1983).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/coljgl15&div=24&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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