About us

Worlds Behind Walls: a short video presenting AdvocAid’s work and vision

AdvocAid works with girls and women caught up in Sierra Leone’s often unjust legal system. We are the only organisation in West Africa providing holistic access to justice via free legal representationeducation empowermentdetainee support and a moving forward programme, ensuring detainees leave as stronger women with brighter prospects.

Poverty and imprisonment frequently go hand-in-hand, both as the reason for women’s offences and because women can rarely afford legal services, fines or bail. Alongside this, poor education means too many women don’t know or understand their legal rights, resulting in admission to crimes they did not commit and no knowledge of their rights when arrested.

AdvocAid was founded in 2006 and this year we are celebrating our 15 year anniversary. Read our anniversary page to learn more about our achievements over the past decade and how we celebrate 15 years!

Today, we work in several towns across Sierra Leone to ensure these women and their children receive fair legal representation, are educated on their legal rights and offered rehabilitation support upon release. As well as providing these short term interventions, we deliver advocacy and law reform projects focused on wider issues impacting women in the justice system, ensuring we are changing women’s future prospects in the long term.