NATIONAL ELIZABETH FRY WEEK - Challenging Stereotypes and Encouraging Proactive Action

The Honourable Herb Gray, the Solicitor General of Canada, as well as Marie Cadieux, the director of National Film Board productions entitled À Double Tour and Twice Condemned, helped to launch National Elizabeth Fry Week on Parliament Hill on Friday, May 5, 1995. In addition, Paddy Torsney, M.P. and Chair of the Liberal Women's Caucus, made a statement in the House of Commons regarding National Elizabeth Fry Week.

The Prison Arts Foundation display of prisoners' artwork and the opportunities, provided in cooperation with the National Film Board of Canada, to view such videos as, Getting Out, To Heal the Spirit, Locked in - Locked Out, Twice Condemned/À Double Tour, The Vienna Tribunal, When Women Kill, Without Fear/Pour Ne Plus Avoir Peur, helped to focus attention on our theme of alternatives to incarceration. CAEFS has received extremely positive feedback from politicians, bureaucrats, as well as colleagues in the non-governmental sectors for taking such a proactive focus and attempting to encourage the development of and support for community-based alternatives to incarceration.

Every year Elizabeth Fry societies across the country organize local public events during the week (on an annual basis, we hope) preceding Mother's Day. Our aim is to increase public awareness of the myriad issues facing women in prison and gradually break down the stereotypes of women in conflict with the law. In addition, CAEFS initiates and responds to media awareness and coverage of the myriad relevant issues on an ongoing basis.

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