Once in prison, the practical reality is that mental health needs have been equated with risk. In Canada, for example, physical and mental disability are included in section 17 of the Regulations of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA), as factors which must be considered in determining security classification. This does not mean, however, that the presence of a disability should result in an increased security classification. Mental health concerns that are disabling undoubtedly create very real needs for federally sentenced women and therefore for CSC. But, equating mental and cognitive disabilities with risks only serves to perpetuate a social construction of persons with mental disabilities as dangerous.

Although this is precisely the kind of stereotyping which is prohibited by the equality provisions of the section 15 Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as I stand before you today, I must regrettably report that for the past 4 1/2 years Canada has isolated most such women in segregated maximum security units in men’s prisons. Most of these women pose the greatest risk to themselves and their own well-being. They are, however, incredibly difficult to “manage” in prison settings, especially if they resist restraint, lock-up, medications et cetera; and, if they slash and carve their bodies, burn themselves, swallow items, try to smash in their own skulls, gouge out their eyes or kill themselves.

The inability of correctional systems to address cognitive challenges and mental health needs and behaviours of women should not be, but has indeed been, used as a reason to classify women as higher security prisoners and to consequently justify harsher treatment of such women. Since such treatment occurs as a result of the cognitive and mental disabilities of such women prisoners, it is clearly discriminatory and, in Canada, contravenes human rights as well as s. 15(1) of our constituionally enshrined Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Consequently, it is our view that we must all continue to pursue opportunities to challenge the increased criminalization of women with cognitive and mental disabilities. In addition, we must focus upon the development of community-based services for women. Where we cannot prevent them from being criminalized in the first place, we need to work to have women taken out on passes and/or released into the community so that they may access such services. It would be folly of the most profound and irresponsible proportions to focus on the development of institutionally-based services alone.

c) Assessing the Impact

As we have unfortunately seen in Canada, with the building of five new women’s prisons, however, particularly in regions which previously exported their women prisoners thousands of kilometres to the centralized Prison for Women in Kingston, not only have we seen an increase in the number of women sentenced to two yearsor more just because there is now a new prison in the neighbourhood, but we have also seen judges sentencing women to longer prison terms because of the belief that they are more likely to receive additional treatment there. Women themselves sometimes ask for longer sentences for the same reasons.