Recommendations to end criminalization of Indigenous women in the DTES

Correctional facilities

Recommendation 171: Start all Indigenous women prisoners at a minimum-security level and remove the requirement to automatically incarcerate Indigenous women in a maximum security facility for the first two years of a murder sentence.

Recommendations to end criminalization of Indigenous women in the DTES

Correctional facilities

Recommendation 172: End the current classification scale and reassess all Indigenous women currently classified at the maximum-security level using a gender and culturally-responsive classification tool.

Recommendations to end criminalization of Indigenous women in the DTES

Correctional facilities

Recommendation 173: The test for security classification under s. 18 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Regulations should be amended to eliminate institutional adjustment as criteria for a higher classification level.

Recommendations to end criminalization of Indigenous women in the DTES

Correctional facilities

Recommendation 174: End the placement of Indigenous women in solitary confinement in all prisons, and establish an independent external review of all Indigenous women in segregation placements.

Recommendations to end criminalization of Indigenous women in the DTES

Correctional facilities

Recommendation 175: Increase supports for Indigenous women on conditional release, particularly through income assistance, employment, counselling, and child care. Permit conditional release options that facilitate Indigenous women to be housed with their children.

Recommendations to end criminalization of Indigenous women in the DTES

Correctional facilities

Recommendation 176: All day-to-day programs and services at remand, provincial, and federal facilities must be accessible, timely, and long term with the goal of decarceration and successful reintegration. Access must be unconditional, not contingent on classification, and not withdrawn as a punitive or disciplinary measure. Guaranteed programs and services must include:

1. Independent prison legal services.
2. Independent healthcare in accordance with the U.N. Mandela rules including 24/7 appropriate healthcare; mental health counselling; access to gender-affirming surgery; detox on demand; heroin-assisted and injectable hydromorphone treatment; and safe needle exchange and tattooing program.
3. Culturally appropriate and non-punitive healing programs that understand physical, mental, spiritual, and sexual traumas as intergenerational collective traumas caused by colonization.
4. Free phone calls.
5. Nutritious food.
6. Library, reading materials, and computer literacy.
7. Increased visitation, including increased hours, more opportunities for physical contact, and decreased security checks for visitors.
8. Access to meaningful employment and higher prisoner pay.
9. Support for release planning.

Recommendations to end criminalization of Indigenous women in the DTES

Correctional facilities

Recommendation 177: Establish alternatives to Correctional facilities for all mothers who are primary caregivers or expected to give birth while in prison. In the immediate, implement child-friendly mother-child units in all Correctional facilities so no child is separated from their mother.

Recommendations to end criminalization of Indigenous women in the DTES

Correctional facilities

Recommendation 178: For women who do not have primary custody of their children, prioritize the social bond between incarcerated mothers and their children. This includes:

1. Funding for families to cover the costs and logistics of transportation for visits and child-friendly practices during visitation including visitation hours scheduled after school hours, no body searches of children, and allowance for physical contact.
2. Visitation outside the prison setting.
3. Free and unlimited phone calls and introduce video calling technologies, in addition to the right to open in-person visits.
4. Family reunification as a priority post-release by providing all the necessary supports including housing, child care, and parenting support.

Recommendations to end criminalization of Indigenous women in the DTES

Correctional facilities

Recommendation 179: Implement existing recommendations in the Report of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, A Call to Action: Reconciliation with Indigenous Women in the Federal Justice and Correctional Systems.

Recommendations for Indigenous women’s wellness in the DTES

Recommendation 180: All levels of government must acknowledge that the current state of Indigenous women’s health is a direct result of colonialism and government policies.