Prison for Women

Tensions were high following an incident on April 22, 1994 at the Prison for Women in Kingston, Ontario. Several inmates placed in the segregation unit for disciplinary measures turned on correctional officers on duty that night, kicking and choking them

Fearing an escalation in the violence, the Warden later called in the Institutional Emergency Response Team (IERT) an all-male riot squad. Dressed in black head and body gear, brandishing riot shields and batons, they entered the prisoners’ cells and proceed to shackle, strip search and remove them. The excessive force of the riot squad left the inmates traumatized.

One year later a commission of inquiry was called to investigate the incidents, headed by Justice Louise Arbour. Justice Arbour made several recommendations in The Commission of Inquiry Into Certain Events At The Prison For Women In Kingston. Some of those recommendations are listed below:

  • The position of Deputy Commissioner for Women be created within the Correctional Service of Canada, at a rank equivalent to that of Regional Deputy Commissioner
  • The Deputy Commissioner for Women consult with women’s groups to develop appropriate programs for women offenders
  • That male IERT’s not be deployed again in an institution for women;
  • Men may not strip search women. The only exception is where the delay in locating women to conduct the search would be dangerous to human life and no man may witness the strip search of a woman, except as above;
  • Male front line workers are always paired with female front line workers when patrolling living units;
  • That access to the Healing Lodge be available to all Aboriginal federally sentenced women, regardless of their present classification;

As to the women subjected to the strip search Justice Arbour said; “when properly understood in its full context, these events raise a legal and moral question much more basic than merely whether it technically constituted a “strip search.” It raises the question of whether the treatment of the inmates was cruel, inhumane and degrading. I think it was”

See the complete contents of the full Arbour Report by Madam Justice Arbour

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