82% of the women in federal prisons are serving their first federal sentence, and only 1.6% of the women have experienced three or more terms of imprisonment. 22% of the federal women's population are lifers. 4% of the women serving federal sentences were convicted of first degree murder, and 14% for second degree murder. In terms of race and racism, approximately 44% of the women serving federal sentences are racialized women, about 25% are Aboriginal, 6% are Black, 1% Asian and the rest are described as uncategorized. Right now, 52% of all federally sentenced women and 83% of federally sentenced women who are labelled now as maximum security prisoners are under the age of 35.

Part of this increase is likely linked to the fact that we now have five federal penitentiaries for women, four segregated maximum security units in men's penitentiaries, the Isabel MacNeill Minimum Security House and the Burnaby Correctional Centre for Women, all replacing the Prison for Women in Kingston. Six of these new prison settings for women are in the Prairies and Atlantic Provinces - two Regions where none previously existed.

It must also be borne in mind that all these increases have occurred within the context of increased cuts to expenditures for social services, health and education throughout the country. The result has been that women prisoners in Canada, like women prisoners worldwide, are the fastest growing prison population.

We also know that increased numbers of young women with mental and cognitive disabilities, women who used to fill psychiatric and mental health facilities, are now increasingly being criminalized. Progressive trends of the past to de-institutionalize those with cognitive and mental disabilities have been subverted by resource depletion, attitudes and policies occasioned by the deficit dementia of the last decade. The result is that more and more people are literally being dumped into the streets.

Their attempts to survive, their attempts to self-medicate, their attempts to cope with their situations as well as the behaviour that evolves from being in a situation where they are increasingly disenfranchised, have led to their increased criminalization and imprisonment. Once in prison, these women are considered difficult to manage and consequently spend a disproportionate amount of their time classified as maximum security prisoners and serve most of their sentences in the segregated maximum security units in men's prisons. They also tend to attract a number of psychiatric labels, and tend to be characterized by the Correctional Service of Canada as among the most difficult prisoners to manage.