national protective framework for all children in Sierra Leone, not just those affected by the war, against torture, cruelty, abuse, neglect and exploitation. 203. Whilst the GoSL had a number of laws in place which criminalized and imposed penalties for acts of cruelty, abuse, maltreatment, neglect and exploitation of children, these were inherited from the colonial legal system and were as a result, outdated, not responsive to the current circumstances in Sierra Leone, and were not in alignment with the requirements of the ACRWC and the CRC. These included the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act (chap.31), the Children and Young Persons Act (chap 44) and the Protection of Women and Girls Act (chap. 30). In addition a number of statutory and customary laws directly contravened a number of protection rights guaranteed by the ACRWC and the CRC. These included the Corporal Punishment Act and a number of customary and religious laws, such as those dealing with the age of marriage, the age at which children could consent to sexual intercourse, laws governing the use of corporal punishment and the involvement of children in child labour. On the other hand, a number of positive customary laws and practices, such as the communal care of children and the use of traditional dispute resolution fora and structures which were protective of children had not been mainstreamed into the formal child protection legal framework. 204. The GoSL addressed a number of these issues through a process of legal reform which involved the ratification of a number of instruments and development of a number of new policies and laws which considerably strengthened the protection of children against cruelty, inhumane treatment, abuse, neglect and exploitation. 205. The GoSL ratified the Optional Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nation’s Convention against Transnational Organized Crime in 2001. 206. In 2003 a National Youth Policy was developed which sought to empower youth and nurture the development of a non-violent and respectful post-war culture through the development of youth associations and job creation schemes. 207. The Recruitment Policy of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (2004) and the Armed Forces Recruitment Act of 2006 prohibits the recruitment or enlistment of persons below 18 years of age into the Sierra Leone Armed Forces. 208. The Anti-Human Trafficking Act (2005) was enacted to prohibit and regulate trafficking in and the sale of persons, especially children. The scope of the act, through its definition of exploitation, is sufficiently wide to prohibit any act or conduct amounting to the sale of a child. 209. In 2006, a rights-based National Policy on Child Well-Being was developed which outlined a number of strategies with the objective of securing the survival, protection and best interests of all children in Sierra Leone. It outlines a number of general strategies and calls for the development of a more detailed five-year plan for the implementation of the policy. 210. An overarching law governing child protection and the management of children in conflict with the law, the Child Rights Act (2007), was developed within a child 56  Government of the Republic of Sierra Leone Initial Report on the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child 2002-2014