LEWAF Programs
Access to Justice & Legal Empowerment
3,500+ cases brokered through community-based paralegal services. 1,300 women legally empowered. 20 Community-Based Justice Advocates on the frontline. Legal rights brought directly to Sierra Leone's most remote communities.
Legal Empowerment at the Community Level
For many women in Sierra Leone, the formal justice system is inaccessible — too distant, too expensive, too intimidating, and conducted in a language they may not fully understand. LEWAF's ATJ-LE program bridges this gap by bringing legal knowledge and support directly into communities through trained paralegals and justice advocates.
LEWAF is an accredited Legal Aid service provider in Sierra Leone, operating four mediation offices — Calaba Town (Freetown), Waterloo, Moyamba Town, and Mokonde/Njala — using its "PLATE" model: Paralegal services, Legal advice and information, Alternative dispute resolution, Trauma recovery, and Education on gender laws.
Community Paralegal Services
Trained community paralegals — often women from the same community — provide accessible legal information, mediate and broker cases, assist with documentation, and connect women to formal legal support when cases require it. Over 3,500 cases have been brokered through this informal justice pathway.
Legal Education Sessions & Peer Educators
Practical legal literacy sessions covering domestic violence law, property and inheritance rights, marriage and custody rights, and how to access police and courts. Trained peer educators lead learning sessions in their own communities, and 1,300 women petty traders have been legally empowered through the legal empowerment initiative.
Community-Based Justice Advocates (CBJAs)
20 women positioned as frontline CBJAs across LEWAF's operational areas — people-centred justice. These advocates monitor cases, support victims, and ensure women can navigate justice pathways safely.
Open-Field Legal Education Exhibitions
Public legal learning exhibitions bring the law to life through skits on economic abuse, physical abuse, sexual penetration, women's right to bail, and devolution of estates. An estimated 2,000 people witnessed the exhibition, alongside government ministries, the Legal Aid Board, the Human Rights Commission, the Sierra Leone Police, and national media.
Policy Advocacy
CBJAs have engaged the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone, the Legal Aid Board, and the Western Area Rural District Council. Three high-level advocacy engagements contributed to the passage of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill 2019 into law.
