Post-prison Support for 300 Women in Sierra Leone

Post-prison reintegration poses a great challenge for many of our clients. Many incarcerated women are shunned by their families and often face stigma from their communities upon their release, making it difficult for them to be successfully reintegrated into their families, communities and villages. The reality facing many women upon their release is no funds or family support to travel home, let alone financially support themselves and their children.

that they do not have the funds or family support to even travel home, let alone support themselves economically. In Sierra Leone, there are very few resources available for the rehabilitation of former detainees and this significantly reduces the likelihood of their successful reintegration back into society. 

AdvocAid recently won two appeal cases, for two people who were previously on death row. Aminata* was accused of murdering her abusive boyfriend during a struggle whilst he was beating her and spent over 9 years in detention. She was found guilty and sentenced to death, although her sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. AdvocAid filed an appeal on Aminata’s behalf in 2010, but delays at the appeal court meant her case was not heard until 2014 and judgement was not handed down until 2019. On her release Aminata has had to rebuild her life from scratch, unable to return to her previous home. Through the generous funds received from our Global Giving donors, we’ve been able to provide Aminata a range of support - from basics like clothes and a mobile phone, to much-needed medical treatment and weekly counselling sessions.

 AdvocAid met Alpha* when we represented his mother on a joint murder charge. Both Alpha and his mother were found guilty and sentenced to death. Despite his mother being released in 2011 on a Presidential Pardon, Alpha remained behind bars and had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment. AdvocAid filed an appeal on Alpha’s behalf in 2011. By the time of his release in 2019, he had spent more than ten years in detention and had not had any contact with his family in all that time. AdvocAid sent one of our paralegals to a rural district, more than 300km away from Freetown, to trace Alpha’s remaining family. Through hard work and determination, we were able to locate his mother and brother and make arrangements with the family and his community to ensure that Alpha would be welcomed back home. The paralegal then accompanied Alpha on his long journey from the male correctional centre in Freetown back home. The family were so thankful and delighted they called the Freetown team every day for two weeks afterwards.

AdvocAid would not have been able to support our two clients in these ways had it not been for your continued support. On behalf of the people we work with, thank you for your generous donations to AdvocAid.  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 changed to protect clients’ identity. 

Many incarcerated women in Sierra Leone are shunned by their families and ostracised by their communities, due to the social stigma associated with detention, even for a short period. On release, women often don’t have enough money to travel to their home village or town, let alone support themselves. They have lost of all of their possessions and income, and are vulnerable to coming into conflict with the law again. Yet in Sierra Leone there are limited options for rehabilitation or post-prison support.

One way AdvocAid has supported current and formerly incarcerated women is through skills-training, including jewellery and handicraft making. In December, AdvocAid was able to provide additional materials, such as cloth, thread and beads, to women in correctional centres producing items such necklaces, earrings, beaded purses and beaded flip-flops. This will enable them to produce more items to sell and increase what they can earn.

AdvocAid further supports these women by selling these items on their behalf and returning the revenue to them. Items are sold from AdvocAid’s office and regularly bought by local supporters. In addition, this month AdvocAid was able to arrange a stall selling these jewellery and handicrafts at ‘Ma Dengn’, an annual festival celebrating Sierra Leonean culture. Through the stall, AdvocAid was able to sell over SLL 1,000,000 (about £100) worth of items made by current and formerly incarcerated women. In a country where the monthly minimum wage is SLL 500,000 (about £50), this is a fantastic sum to raise.

On behalf of the women and girls we work with, thank you for your generous donations to AdvocAid. For all new recurring donors signing up this December to support AdvocAid, Global Giving will provide match-funding from month four onwards. For example, if you sign up as a recurring donor during December to donate $10 a month, Global Giving will match this donation from April onwards and AdvocAid will receive $20 a month.

We encourage you to sign up to our newsletter, via our website, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to get the latest news about AdvocAid’s work.