Federally Sentenced Women with Mental Disabilities: A Dark Corner in Canadian Human Rights

Prepared by Yvonne Peters for DAWN Canada

INTRODUCTION

On March 8, 2001 (International Women's Day) the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) wrote to the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) requesting that it exercise its power under s. 61(2) of the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA) to prepare a special report on the government's treatment of women serving federal terms of imprisonment.¹ In its letter, CAEFS alleges that the federal prison system discriminates against women prisoners on the grounds of sex, race and cognitive and mental disabilities.² CAEFS specifically requested that the Commission undertake a broad-based, systemic review of the prison system as it pertains to women on these three grounds.

In conjunction with the CHRC investigation, CAEFS is conducting its own investigation and analysis of the prison system and its impact on the sex, race and disability interests of women prisoners.

CAEFS has asked DisAbled Women’s Network Canada ("DAWN Canada") to provide a human rights analysis of the laws and policies that govern how Correctional Service Canada (CSC) deals with federally sentenced women ("FSW") living with a mental disability. DAWN Canada was founded in 1985. We are a national feminist organization controlled by women with disabilities working to achieve control over our own lives and end the stereotype that labels us dependent burdens on society.

Our paper is divided into five parts. We begin in Part I with a brief description of the historical roots of disability-based discrimination and the growing trend to criminalize persons living with a mental disability. In Part II, we attempt to describe whom we are talking about when we use the term "federally sentenced women with mental disabilities". Part III provides a brief description of the human rights laws that apply to the discrimination faced by FSW with mental disabilities. In Part IV, we examine some of the specific laws and policies implemented by the federal government and CSC that may constitute disability-based discrimination within the federal prison system. Finally in Part V, we propose some recommendations that may serve as a starting point for redressing the discrimination encountered by FSW living with mental disabilities. In particular, our recommendations explore the appropriateness and right of FSW to have access to services situated within the community that are specifically designed to assist women living with mental disabilities. The information and analysis contained in this paper is limited to FSW incarcerated in federal prisons.