Gender Equality Sierra Leone Project #27808

Post-prison Support for 300 Women in Sierra Leone

by AdvocAid

Post-prison Support for 300 Women in Sierra Leone

Project Report | Jan 12, 2021
Developments for Our Post-Prison Support Group

By Victoria Lin | Development Intern

Post-prison reintegration poses a great challenge for many women in Sierra Leone. Many formerly incarcerated women are disowned by their communities and face stigma from their own families upon release. The reality that many liberated women return to is often poverty, no family support and children to look after.

AdvocAid’s Go Bifo programme (meaning ‘moving forward’ in Krio) is a way to mitigate these risks for recently released women. The group supports women by preparing for release, equipping them with the skills and support to transform their lives and thrive in their communities.

The Go Bifo groups met often over the past few months and discussed their experiences with COVID-19, and how the pandemic and the restriction measures have affected their rights and made it harder to earn enough to provide for themselves and their families. These meetings provide an opportunity to come together and provide peer to peer support, share experiences, and to discuss key issues relating to women in society and the role of the law.

In October, twenty women met in the Kenema Go Bifo meeting. It was a critical meeting with the women deciding to transform the group into a formal association and register it with the Ministry of Social Welfare. They see this as an opportunity to continue to move forward together. There was excitement in the air as they elected women to hold various leadership positions for the new association including an executive, a secretary, and a finance manager. They also wrote a guiding constitution document for the association. The group is gaining incredible independence and confidence. We are looking forward to continuing to work with these women and support further development of their new association.

It is with your help that AdvocAid is able to continue to support formerly incarcerated women and girls in moving forward. On behalf of the women and girls we work with, we thank you for your generous donations to AdvocAid.

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Sep 14, 2020
Post-prison support for Marie

By Victoria Lin | Development Intern

We have been working with Marie* to ensure that she was equipped to transform her life after her release from detention. In early April, when she was three months pregnant, she was arrested for fraudulent conversion and obtaining goods by false pretenses. She owed $550. The initial arrest occurred at the height of uncertainty and tensions surrounding the COVID-19 crisis in Sierra Leone, when the government had first declared a national state of emergency. At this time, no cases were being taken at the magistrates courts so Marie’s case was unable to move further along. Marie spent three months at the police station in pre-trial detention.

No one in her family showed up to help. AdvocAid paralegals persevered with her case and, in late June, secured her release. Once she was released, she was provided essential psychosocial support by AdvocAid’s social worker. Because her husband had abandoned her and her children, she had very little support to pick her life back up. She had no accommodation and was staying with a police officer after her release. Marie* was provided with a small business start-up grant from AdvocAid which she uses to start a food business selling homemade cakes. This business is currently enabling her to support herself and her six children.

Marie is now living with her children and hoping for a brighter and better future. She stopped by the AdvocAid offices recently to show us the products that she was selling.

AdvocAid is continuing to monitor her case and provide support to her throughout her pregnancy. It is with your help that AdvocAid is able to continue this kind of post-prison support to recently released women and young girls in Sierra Leone. On behalf of the women and girls we work with, we thank you for your generous donations to AdvocAid.

From Monday September 14th - Friday September 18th, GlobalGiving will be launching the Little by Little Campaign, during which GlobalGiving will match donations up to $50 at 50% from a funding pot of $50,000 in matching funds. Fundraising opportunities like this are a unique chance for AdvocAid to access funds that can be used flexibly where they are the most needed.

To get the latest news from AdvocAid please follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and sign up to our newsletter via our website.

*Names have been changed to protect the individuals’ identities.

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Jun 12, 2020
How Kadie Inspired All Of Us

By Anna Pagel | Development Associate

When we first met Kadie* five years ago she was on trial. Kadie is a single mother and struggled with depression after having to leave her 7-year-old daughter behind. “My daughter is my life,” Kadie always told us, “I am miserable without her.”

Whilst Kadie was receiving legal aid, our social worker, Fatmata invited her to join an AdvocAid psycho-social session to support her mental health. She benefited greatly from this and began to return to her charismatic self. The other women detained with her soon gave her the nickname ‘AdvocAid’ – an indicator for her enthusiasm and engagement in the sessions conducted by Fatmata.

After 5 years in detention, Kadie’s case was acquitted and she was discharged to be reunited with her daughter. Two days after her release, she came to the AdvocAid office and was given a post-prison business start-up grant. The next morning, she returned with a cool bag filled to the brim with cooked dishes. As the mouth-watering smells of couscous, rice, chicken, fish, and vegetables filled the air, she explained how she had spent all morning cooking and planned to go from office to office selling her meals. As our social worker Fatmata described, “We were so happy when AdvocAid Kadie came to show us her business. She has come so far since we first met her and is such a proactive individual, I know she will do well.”

A lack of resources means the government makes no provision for formerly incarcerated women. The lack of support and stigma they face means many women leaving detention in Sierra Leone experience poverty and hardship, putting them at risk of coming back into contact with the law. Thanks to generous donations like yours, AdvocAid can support women’s post-prison rehabilitation and reintegration. On behalf of all the women we work with, thank you.

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