Sierra Leone
Sento, a mother of two, was serving a one-year prison sentence until a few days ago. On this International Women’s Day, her time behind bars has come to an end.
She is among four inmates granted freedom by Sierra Leone’s Correctional Services.
“I was arrested for loitering. They said they did not want anyone around the makeshift structure because criminals and drug users usually sit around those places. Since I had no one to help me, they took me to the cell. My husband also tried to help arrange my release, but he was unable to find anyone to assist him,” Sento told Africanews.
The women were released following an intervention by the Football for Reform Initiative, a gender empowerment programme that uses football as a tool for social change and rehabilitation.
“Over the past five years, I have had a relationship with the Freetown Women’s Correctional Center. And in those five years, we’ve been able to secure the release of about a hundred female inmates. They’ve also been able to engage in skills training while in the center; we provided that for them, and hopefully they can gain gainful employment,” said Isha Johansen, founder of Football for Reform.
Johansen added that many of the women end up in prison simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
For the inmates released on Friday, the road ahead will not be without challenges. Supporters of the initiative say it is about compassion, rehabilitation and the chance to reintegrate into society.
According to authorities at the Sierra Leone Correctional Service, more than 200 women are currently held in female facilities across the country, serving various fines and sentences.
“They are here for us to rehabilitate them, but most of the time, the tools for us to rehabilitate them are not there: items like beads, sewing machines, plumbing machines, carpentry machines. Because if you have skills in carpentry, you can go back and start your own workshop in town,” said Susan Baby Koker, Deputy Director General of the Sierra Leone Correctional Service.
The Football for Reform initiative is now pushing for increased legal representation for women in detention across Sierra Leone.
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