next if $file =~ /^\/?$location/;
[download]

makes the front slash optional.

update: See the exemplary code below, which will result in OK2 OK3 OK4:

my $s1  = "abc";
my $s2  = "/abc";
my $all = "/abc";

print "OK1\n" if $all =~ /^$s1/;
print "OK2\n" if $all =~ /^$s2/;
print "OK3\n" if $all =~ /^\/?$s1/;
print "OK4\n" if $all =~ /^\/?$s2/;
[download]

update 2: Thanks for the hint davido. Now that you point it out, I see that I misinterpreted front and later. @OP: please use the solution provided by davido instead!