10  28.7 The Child Rights Act, 2007, was enacted with the express objective of domesticating and giving effect to the rights of children as guaranteed by the ACRWC and the CRC. It identifies and describes children’s rights, delineates roles, responsibilities and establishes a number of planning, monitoring and implementation structures at all levels of society. In so doing, it provides a national framework for the protection, promotion and realization of the best interests of the child, their rights to equality and to have their best interests and view taken into account in all decisions affecting them. It further addresses their maintenance and protection rights. More specifically, it makes provision for responsibilities and remedies to secure children’s rights to parental care and judicially supervised alternative care in cases of need; their rights not to be involved in armed conflict; not to be subject to abuse, torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or exploitation; as well as the rights of children in conflict with the law to receive child-appropriate treatment respectful of their dignity and protection from torture, inhuman or degrading punishment and abuse within the justice system. The CRA also makes modifications to previous laws in order to improve compliance with the CRC, including the Corporal Punishment Act (repealed), the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act and the Children and Young Persons Act, and outlaws harmful customary, religious or social practices, including child betrothals and marriages. 28.8 The Devolution of Estates Act, 2007 was enacted to, inter alia, ensure gender parity and secure the rights of children to be maintained in matters of property inheritance. Prior to the enactment of this legislation, the laws of inheritance, especially customary laws, were prejudicial to the welfare of women and children. Women and children, could be left destitute and without recourse to any form of support from the assets of their deceased husband or father. The act secures the rights of all women and children to be maintained and to a portion of the deceased estates of their fathers or husbands. 28.9 The Registration of Customary Marriages and Divorce Act, 2007 increases the age of marriage in customary unions to 18 years and ensures that customary marriages are fully registered and thus bestows greater legitimacy on children. 28.10 The Domestic Violence Act, 2007 criminalizes and thus extends protection to women and children against all forms of sexual, physical, and mental abuse or torture in a domestic relationship. 28.11 The HIV and AIDS Act, 2007 covers the role of government in education and awareness, testing, screening, access to health care and support services to HIV and AIDS victims and outlaws discrimination against children and others affected by HIV and AIDS. 28.12 The National Education Policy, 2010 was developed to provide a framework for the more effective realization of the rights of all children to education. It specifically introduced a number of innovations to ensure the inclusion of marginalized children in the education system, such as children with disabilities, and to ensure improved educational completion rates and outcomes through measures such as the introduction of a compulsory pre-primary phase and the restructuring of the schooling structure. Government of the Republic of Sierra Leone Initial Report on the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child 2002-2014