Know the Law, Use the Law, Shape the Law: Inside LEWAF's Open-Field Legal Education Exhibition

Under a public banner reading "Know the Law! Use the Law! Help Shape the Law! — Promoting a Culture of Justice in Our Community," an open field in Calaba Town, Freetown, filled with an estimated 2,000 people. It was the culmination of six months of legal education for 1,300 women petty traders — a public exhibition designed to prove that the learning had actually taken place, and that LEWAF's community-based legal empowerment model works.

Learning Made Visible

Participants organized themselves into show booths they called "barrays," each named after a historical champion of women's rights and empowerment in Sierra Leone. At the Ella Koblo Gulama Barray, women demonstrated their knowledge of the Domestic Violence Act, the Devolution of Estate Act, and the referral pathway for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. At the Mammy Yoko Barray, the focus was the Sexual Offences Act and its 2019 amendment, alongside the new Bail Regulations. At the Kailondo Barray, women explained the National Land Policy and the rules around police arrest and detention.

All 1,300 women had learned the full curriculum through a specially designed picture-based "Legal Education Pictorial Message Album" — a tool built for women with no formal education, using illustrated scenarios instead of written legal jargon. Some went further, specializing in specific topics to demonstrate expert knowledge to visiting members of the public.

Who Showed Up

The exhibition attracted government agencies including the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children's Affairs, the Legal Aid Board, the Human Rights Commission, and the Sierra Leone Police; development and civil society organizations including the National Coalition for Community Legal Empowerment (NaCCLE) and the Sierra Leone Albinism Foundation; and national broadcasters SLBC, AYV, and STAR TV, who provided full coverage.

Hon. Rugiatu Rosy Kanu, Member of Parliament for Constituency 113, Simitie Lavalie, Commissioner of the Sierra Leone Human Rights Commission, and Mohamed Hajie Kella, Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children's Affairs, all delivered statements at the event — classing the initiative as "innovative and successful."

Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles, Executive Director of the Sierra Leone Legal Aid Board, personally toured the exhibition. The verdict from every institution present was the same: women who understand the law don't just protect themselves — they can shift the "increase knowledge of the law" and "economic strength" of an entire community toward lasting change.