Supporting 350 Female Detainees in Sierra Leone

In Sierra Leone, women in correctional centres, either on pre-trial detention or carrying out a sentence, are permitted to be detained with their children under two years old. This policy allows mothers to provide care for infants and continue breast-feeding. However, these children are often not provided for. Women in correctional centres are often unable to access basic necessities such as medicines, toiletries and nutritious food. These welfare needs are particularly acute for pregnant women and mothers caring for children within the correction centres.

In October one of our social workers was conducting a routine weekly visit to the Freetown Female Correctional Centre, when mothers made an urgent plea for welfare assistance. At the time, nine babies were detained in the correctional centres. Many of the mothers said their children were unable to sleep at night due to hunger. AdvocAid was able to provide emergency welfare packages for these mothers containing milk powder, sugar and garri (cassava flour, often used to make porridge). Earlier that same month, AdvocAid was also able to provide emergency welfare packages for several babies in Bo and Kenema correctional centres.

The physical effects of poor nutrition and health standards are perhaps the most visible signs of the impact of imprisonment for both mothers and children, but there are also heavy emotional and psychological. As a means of providing emotional support, AdvocAid’s social workers conduct psycho-social sessions with women in detention. These often include prayer, exchanging personal stories, providing positive feedback to other detainees, making plans for life after prison and playing games. One participant said she had learnt ‘acceptance, forgiveness and how to cope with my situation’ during the session. Another woman said the session ‘was really helpful to us. Most of us have so many thoughts running through our minds, which sometimes makes us have sleepless nights. This affects our mental wellbeing, but now I am learning how to cope.’

It is with your help that AdvocAid is able to respond to the emergency welfare requests from mothers and their babies in detention. Without your support, we often are unable to meet these requests for food and basic necessities. On behalf of the women and girls we work with, we thank you for your generosity.

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.

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