Canada: Women Prisoners Speak Out!

Three interviews about how federally-sentenced women experience the Canadian system, and how they fighting discrimination and abuse. Featuring Kim Pate (18min46s), Patricia Monture-Angus (32min54s), Gayle Horii (29min17s). (article 1)

Three years ago, on International Women's Day 2001, 17 women's organizations, including the Elizabeth Fry Society and the Native Women's Association of Canada, came together to file a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission. Concerns include discrimination against women prisoners, based on race, gender and disability, the over-classification of women, and systemic human rights abuses.

On January 28 of this year (2004), the CHRC released its report, titled "Protecting Their Rights", in response to these complaints.

This particular complaint grew out of a long history of women prisoners and their advocates demanding change.

The files:

Kim Pate is Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies. CKLN spoke with her in March 2004.

Patricia Monture-Angus is a professor at the University of Saskatchewan, and a member of the Task Force on Federally-Sentenced Women. She is Mohawk, from Six Nations of the Grand River. CKLN spoke with her in August 2003, about the over-representation and abuse of aboriginal women in Canada's prisons.

Gayle Horii served seven years in the federal system and is on parole. She co-founded Strength in SISterhood, an organization of women prisoners and ex-prisoners. CKLN spoke with her in August 2003.

Antonia Baker hosted these interviews. You can contact her at pjd@ckln.fm.

These interviews aired on March 12, 2004, as part of CKLN's "Take Back the Mic!" programming for International Women's Day. See www.ckln.fm for more about CKLN's special programming for IWD, and for Prisoners' Justice Day (August 10).

Advocates are encouraging people to write to Minister Anne McLellan, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, to demand remedies for human rights abuses against women prisoners at:

Anne McLellan

340 Laurier Avenue West, 13th Floor

Ottawa, ON

K1A 0P8

613.992.4524

mclellan.a@parl.gc.ca