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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 12:09 am
Time: 12:09 am
Results for female prisoners (canada)
1 results foundAuthor: Bingham, Elizabeth Title: Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading? Canada’s Treatment of Federally-sentenced Women with Mental Health Issues Summary: The inquest into the 2007 death of Ashley Smith while in federal custody has been repeatedly delayed, but the issues that Ms. Smith’s death raises remain pressing. At its most basic level, Ms. Smith died due to the state’s conviction that solitary confinement is a legitimate response to mental illness, coupled with systemic discrimination against federally sentenced women who have inadequate mental health treatment and community support. Ms. Smith’s death should have been a wakeup call for Canada but, instead, nearly five years and at least four major reports later, Canada has shown absolutely no willingness to address human rights violations against FSW with mental health issues. This report is the culmination of a 20-month research project spearheaded by the International Human Rights Program (IHRP) at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. It details Canada’s treatment of FSW with mental health issues, and analyzes this treatment through the lens of international human rights law. Our research indicates that the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) responds to FSW with mental health issues in a discriminatory manner. CSC equates mental health issues with increased risk and responds with excessive use of segregation (sometimes for months at a time), repeated institutional transfers (sometimes over ten times in a year), and use of force (including restraints). This treatment is exacerbated by a lack of adequate mental health care resources for FSW and training for prison staff. We find that CSC’s treatment of FSW with mental health issues is a violation of their rights under international law. Canada’s treatment of FSW with mental health issues is discriminatory; results in an unjustified deprivation of liberty without judicial oversight; violates the right to health; and, in cases where women are segregated for long periods or subject to excessive institutional transfers, constitutes cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Moreover, CSC’s refusal to provide us with basic statistics and information about the treatment of FSW with mental health issues constitutes a further violation of the CRPD. Details: Toronto: University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, International Human Rights Program, 2012. 74p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 17, 2012 at: http://tinyurl.com/6psz4qr Year: 2012 Country: Canada URL: http://tinyurl.com/6psz4qr Shelf Number: 125339 Keywords: Female InmatesFemale Prisoners (Canada)Mental Health ServicesMentally Ill Offenders |