Opening the Doors is published by the Council and circulated to the Council's supporters, member agencies, and interested community groups. The views expressed in this newsletter are those of the authors or editors, and are not necessarily those of the Council or its members. We welcome your inquiries, comments and suggestions.

1. Support for Survivors of Sexual Violence
2. Turning Around
3. Province Goes to School
4. One Year in at Grand Valley
5. Ice Storm '98
6. Starting Up
7. Women Classified as Maximum Security
8. Farewell to Madame Ishbel
9. Let us Know...

Support for Survivors of Sexual Violence

By Marilyn McLean

Since 1990, the Toronto Rape Crisis Centre has been working with survivors of sexual violence who are incarcerated at the Metro Toronto West Detention Centre. The program, which started with a request made by an incest survivor for counselling, began with monthly visits where counsellors would provide one-on-one counselling sessions. Over the years, the Rape Crisis Centre's work at the West has evolved into a weekly program, which is carried out by staff and trained volunteers. The program is intended to:

1) provide women with information and support about rape and sexual assault, sexual harassment and childhood sexual abuse

2) offer individual and/or group sessions depending on women's requests and on what the prison schedule can accommodate on the program day

3) assist survivors of sexual violence at Metro West in connecting to services which they will be able to use on their release

Counsellors in the Rape Crisis Centre program have long been aware of the connection between women's histories of physical and sexual violence, and incarceration. Research done in Canada in the last decade suggests that at least 70% of the population of federally and provincially sentenced women have experienced physical and/or sexual abuse, with the numbers being even higher for Aboriginal women. One of the counsellors in the RCC's program suggests that many of the women we work with have followed a perceptible pattern, which begins with childhood sexual abuse: "It starts with girls being sexually abused by family members and then being forced into pornography or prostitution. Often they run away and end up in a dangerous living situation or in juvenile detention centres. Then, it's back to the sex trade or drug trafficking and moving in and out of prison."

Metro West functions as a holding centre for women charged both provincially and federally. Women may be at the West awaiting trial or sentencing, serving out a sentence, or waiting to be transferred to a provincial or federal institution. The vast majority of women have been charged with property, drug offenses or prostitution, however, all of them are living in maximum security conditions. Certainly, the environment is not conducive to healing from sexual or physical violence. The counsellor points out that "The place is antagonistic to a survivor - you walk outside the range you get patted down, you get called by your last name if by any name at all, you take showers in full view of the guards, and the Metro West's scheduling requirements make it very difficult to attend programs with any kind of consistency."

Despite the prison environment and the fact that most women are held at the West relatively briefly, and are therefore unable to attend the program more than a few times, the Rape Crisis Centre's program has encountered success. Karlene Moore, another counsellor with the program, suggests that one of the best things the program can provide is a "time out" from prison living conditions where women are treated respectfully and able to talk freely about their life experiences. Survivors are also encouraged to support one another. Some of the best moments, Moore says, are "when you have a group of women, some of whom may be fighting with each other on the ranges, and they are talking about their lives and really listening to one another. One woman will describe an experience and you can see the flashes of recognition in other women's eyes and their efforts to support one another". She describes some of the program's other successes as "those times when you are working with a woman and for the first time maybe in her life, she sees that she didn't cause every single rotten thing that ever happened to her in her whole life".

Women who might be interested in training to volunteer in the program are welcome to call the Rape Crisis Centre in Toronto at 597-1171 and ask for Anna, Karlene or Marilyn O.

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Turning Around

By Nicole Menard

My name is Nicole Menard, and I'm a thirty-four-year-old mother of three young children. I've been involved with the law since 1982, and have been in and out of jail since 1993. My first incarceration was in 1993. At that time, I didn't know much about my rights as an inmate. In August of 1996, I was charged with credit card fraud and sentenced to one year in Portage Women's Correctional Centre in Manitoba. The Elizabeth Fry Society of Manitoba came in twice a week and had programs to offer women who wanted to better themselves. I am proud and happy to say that I was one of the few women who did go to programs to better myself. I graduated and have four diplomas from Elizabeth Fry of Manitoba. I also worked in the institution in Portage LaPrairie as well.

I was released on May 1, 1997 from Portage Women's Correctional Centre and came to Thunder Bay, Ontario to face outstanding charges. I was incarcerated until I dealt with my charges. After almost four months of dead time, I got sentenced to nine months in the Thunder Bay District Jail (TBDJ). I don't exactly know how to start describing how the TBDJ staff treat inmates. I can only tell you my experience with certain staff members.

First of all, when a female inmate is admitted, a female guard and sometimes a male guard stands by. As the female inmate goes into the bathroom for a strip search with the female guard, the male guard sits outside the bathroom, which is right inside one of the offices. The male guard can see the female's reflection from the window. So, the male guard can see your naked body. And then, you have a few female guards that mistreat you like you're garbage. TBDJ does not offer any programs for women and has no counselling for women who have been sexually abused, like myself. The women were not allowed by the TBDJ to have tampons, new panties, unstained t-shirts and so on. In October 1997, the Elizabeth Fry Society of Ontario did their tour across the northwest of Ontario and were amazed to hear what women in Thunder Bay had to say about the TBDJ.

The women out there had much to say. I have never in my life gotten a yeast infection. I sure found out what a yeast infection was all about once I started to wear panties from the TBDJ. I begged to see a doctor for weeks because by the third week I was very irritated and couldn't get comfortable. Everytime I complained about my situation, I was shut down by the nurse. After three weeks of being uncomfortable, the nurse finally did something about my situation.

Then we had one particular guard (female), who ignored our needs and would slam the hatch in our faces. In the female dorm, there's five bunks which consist of ten beds. The dorm is approximately 15 x 15 feet. One table with four chairs. So the other girls would have to eat on the floor or on their bunks. The food is very bland and the majority of the time cold, and the kitchen staff do not watch for inmates' allergy food guidelines either. Also, on numerous occasions when we got prepared for bedtime at 11:00 p.m., a male supervisor would walk into the female dorm with a female guard and look at us girls, regardless of whether we were naked or not. He would never ask if we were decent or not.

We had a meeting with the Deputy about our concerns, but nothing changed. On one occasion, one of the female inmates told one of the nurses that her menstrual cramps were severe. The nurse told this lady that the pain was all in her head. The Doctor at the TBDJ is approximately 80 years old and has Parkinson's Disease. This doctor gets paid for a full medical checkup, which he doesn't even do.

Some of the staff members at the TBDJ need to be a little more concerned about the inmates' needs, because they ignore the women a lot. How can you rehabilitate yourself when the jail doesn't have any kind of programs for us inmates?

Also, we were lucky if we got yard access twice a week. The men are out every day. The men complain regularly, but if the women say anything, they lock us down or take away phone and TV privileges.

At one point, three of us spoke out on behalf of other inmates and we got moved over to Block #12, which is the cell block. When I asked staff why we got moved out of the female dorm, we were told it was because we were high risk offenders. I have no violence whatsoever in my background.

On my way to the Sault Ste. Marie jail, I was strip searched by two female officers and two male officers were present. One male officer sat there watching me. I'm pretty upset about the whole situation. On January 13, 1998, I arrived at the Sudbury District Jail. There, the guards are very respectful, and good natured. The Elizabeth Fry Society of Sudbury does come in to see the women and women can take programs with them.

At the Sudbury Jail, I waived parole and requested a transfer to the Northern Treatment Centre. I've been in and out of jail for too long and want treatment so I can stay out. NTC has changed my outlook completely. It's great that programs are offered. Anyone can change if they really want to. At NTC, I'm not treated as an "inmate", but as a human being. The physical conditions are good and I'm always kept busy. They also look after healthcare needs well. I hope to start a new life.

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The Council has initiated a project called the Provincial Report Card, whose purpose is to effectively monitor and report on conditions in women's jails in Ontario. Our local agencies are given a checklist of areas to assess, such as provision of programs, access to healthcare, provision of clean underwear and other clothing, privacy barriers, cell size, ventilation and natural light, exercise, and so forth. They complete the checklist based on what they observe on their visits to local jails. Areas of the province not covered by local agencies are visited occasionally by the Council Executive Director or, absent an actual visit, a phone interview is conducted with the jail on the topics covered in the checklist. We would ideally like to be able to actually visit all these facilities ourselves to monitor compliance with Ministry policy directives and basic human rights. However, the lack of funding in this regard precludes us from visiting outlying prisons more frequently.

The Report Card is compiled by Council and sent to the Ministry of the Solicitor General and Correctional Services. The first Report Card was submitted in September 1997. At that time, we awarded the Province of Ontario a failing grade. Many institutions failed to comply with Ministry policy directives in their women's units. Very few of them had any programs, treatment or counselling for the women. Often, women will sit in these units for 18 - 23 hours a day, not doing anything productive. There are many problems accessing healthcare and medication given has been out of date. Still, despite years of complaints in this regard, women are not provided with clean underwear upon admission to the jail. Ministry policy requires the provision of previously used but laundered underwear. Privacy barriers are often missing in front of toilets or showers, there is little natural light and limited access to exercise.

So far, the Ministry has acted quickly to put a plan in place to address the majority of our concerns. We have given the Ministry until April 1998 to put their plan into action, when we will conduct another survey of the conditions and will submit our next Report Card.

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By Charlotte Ranger

Grand Valley Institution for Women celebrated its first anniversary on January 16, 1998. This writer was on the third load that arrived at GVI from the Kingston Prison for Women. So what I am about to write, I have experienced first hand.

Coming to GVI has truly been an experience I will remember for the rest of my life. The road to this new prison concept has not been an easy one by any means. A metamorphosis did not happen on the road from P4W to GVI. The inmates brought with them their old attitudes and past hidden fears. The new Primary Workers were a surprise to each and every one of us. Most of the inmates were taken off guard. Here we had staff members that were more than willing to accommodate us, but this seemed to complicate matters even more. Some of the inmates abused this privilege to a vast extent and others just didn't know how to handle this new concept of prison life.

The Warden, Marie-Andrée Drouin, is a remarkable woman. Over the past twelve months, she has been scrutinized to the fullest extent. Her faults have been verbalized by both the inmates and staff. The Warden, in my eyes, has gone out of her way to be flexible with offenders. On many occasions, I have personally known the Warden to compromise with the Inmate Committee to alleviate a problem or give a situation another chance. On the other hand, there has been contradiction after contradiction by the Warden and other administration staff, which is overwhelming for the offender population. At one point in the early months, we did not know from one day to the next what the rule for the day was. However, the kinks are working themselves out slowly but surely.

Living with nine other women, I can honestly say leaves one on pins and needles in the beginning. Automatically, there is usually a personality clash with an offender when a house is at capacity. It's very annoying to live with individuals who refuse to respect one's privacy or be considerate towards others in any manner. House meetings are called to try to resolve problems. Sometimes it's even brought to the attention of administration to intervene at these meetings. After a meeting, if things cannot be solved or reached a compromise, an inmate is often asked to move to another house.

The Programs Department, headed by Marion Evans, has come quite a distance since my arrival at GVI. This facility had virtually nothing to offer us in the first few months upon arrival here. Now there are numerous upgrading, independent learning, and computer courses for the women to continue their education. Some of us will advance on the outside to a future in the work force, due to these programs. We also have many programs to better ourselves, whether it be with drug abuse, alcohol, physical or violence in any form. Volunteers come in from the outside for various crafts and also bring in some supplies. The Barrie Elizabeth Fry Society has sent in, on a number of occasions, articles for the women to do crafts. We have had classes in conversational French and will be starting another in Spanish in the next few weeks.

Healthcare is a touchy issue at GVI. It seems that most of the healthcare staff are contract workers. We need a full-time medical team, not individuals who are on contract. The Psychology Department has only one full-time psychologist. Others that come in are on contract. Inmates are being deprived at both the medical and the psychological ends of treatment. All we are asking for is some workers who are permanent.

The paperwork from the Case Management Officers is done promptly in most cases, with help from the Primary Workers. The Warden rarely refuses to sign an individual inmate's papers for an Escorted Temporary Absence (ETA) or Unescorted Temporary Absence (UTA). I personally find that the support here for inmates from the CMO team is a strong, positive one. Their presentation to the National Parole Board is done with much research, care, and dedication. The NPB has not granted parole very often from GVI. In most cases, the offender has either been flat out denied, or told they must do more programs or just plain time. I feel because GVI is a new institution, there may be some political problems adjusting to a new concept of what a prison is.

The Warden has initiated a Mother and Child Program. Recently, a woman gave birth to a son. They are both fine and are living on the compound. Another woman is due in April and will be keeping her child too, until she leaves or is deported back to her own country. This is a big breakthrough for women who are pregnant and come into prison, they now can keep their child until he or she is four years old.

I myself am the beneficiary of a new Work Release Program. In the next few weeks, I will be out in the public working at a job. This will give me the opportunity to build my skills in the clerical field and restore my self-confidence. Women also have the opportunity to take a beautician's course here as well. We have a licensed beautician who comes in Monday to Friday to train students in theory, book work and hands-on skilled work also.

One thing GVI is lacking is weekend activities and recreation. The women definitely need some action. Whether it be sports, creative arts, or just having an area where we can play cards and chat. Something has to be done.

This is the perfect opportunity for me to say thank you to all the Elizabeth Fry representatives across Ontario who have come to GVI's aid over the past year. Especially, Claire Price, who has always been there with a listening ear and a helping hand. The Hamilton, Toronto, Brampton, Barrie, Sudbury, Ottawa and Kitchener branches deserve a big THANKS. Sandy Stanovie and Jan Van Stralen from the Kitchener E Fry made our lives a little bit brighter on our arrival. Also, the Christmas Party was an event that I will cherish in my memories for years to come.

Grand Valley Institution is a prison built around creating choices and individual rehabilitation. In the past twelve months since arriving here, I myself have developed in many ways. Getting some independence back was a great relief, along with creating my own plans for a future in the free world. Yes, I like this new concept for women's prisons. The living arrangements may get on my nerves some days, but I do like planning meals and being able to eat and cook what I want, when I want. I like the staff who are there for us on a daily basis. If the bus going east pulled up to GVI and asked for volunteers to go back to P4W, I do not believe there would be any women rushing out the door.

Grand Valley Institution sure beats the gloomy gray walls of Prison for Women and the cells of bars. It may take a few years to make GVI the "perfect prison" but thank goodness I am here and not P4W.

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Ice Storm '98

By Trish Crawford

The Elizabeth Fry Society of Kingston survived the horrendous ice storm which ravaged the city in early January. With 90% of the community without heat, hydro or phones, so were our offices, residential facility and the majority of our 37 unit housing project. The women in the halfway house, along with staff, were relocated to a hotel for three nights until we could get power restored. Clients, staff and volunteers looked out for each other in our community, which was quickly declared a disaster area.

Agency staff did double duty with visitation at Prison for Women, which was equipped with a small generator for six days. Isabel McNeill House, which is a house in Kingston for women classified as minimum security, relocated their thirteen residents into the old segregation unit at Prison for Women for a six-day period also. Clearly, a very stressful situation all around. As you do the "check" of everyone's well-being and ability to cope, everyone's reality is different. The trauma for many of our clients was evident in every way and our staff and volunteers were vital in assisting during and after these events.

We relocated back to the community residential facility on the fourth day. We were unable to access the yard and some doors, due to a large tree precariously resting on both the house and a resident's car after being uprooted. In the community, schools became shelters and homes became information centres. People's remarkable sense of pulling together was also evident everywhere.

A month has passed and we're still coming out from under. But we survived! Our residential facility is now full. It will be a long time before we forget these events, as tales of woe, stress and kindness are woven.

Trish Crawford is the Executive Director of the Elizabeth Fry Society of Kingston

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By Holli Norman

As an emerging Elizabeth Fry Society, we count June 8, 1995 as our first meeting. There had been somewhat of a group meeting before that date. However, the two original women who set up the group resigned on June 8, 1995, leaving us six new women to carry the torch. We decided to meet again and continued to do so about twice a month for a period of time.

After a while, we realized we needed a structure to get all the work done. We had a lawyer involved in our group, who agreed to look into incorporation of the group formally. We made up some brochures and distributed them to try and get our name known locally. We had no office and no resources, apart from our core volunteer group. We had to rely on each other to do everything, even copying the minutes of our meetings.

Once a structure was established, we took our original volunteer list, which had lots of names, and called them all to invite them to a meeting. At the meeting, we ascertained everyone's interests and formed fundraising, speaking engagements and networking committees.

In the summer of 1996, we started to prepare for the women to be transferred from the Prison for Women to the new Grand Valley Institution in Kitchener. We wanted to have our office up and running before the women arrived. We had our first big fundraiser - a garage sale and made enough money to start up the office. We kept current on issues and policies in the criminal justice and correctional systems by attending conferences, annual meetings, seminars and so on.

During this whole time, we had lots of support and encouragement from our sister agency, the Elizabeth Fry Society of Peel and from the Council of Elizabeth Fry Societies of Ontario. The Council allocated one day a week of their Executive Director's time for a while to help us out in the office and to get things organized.

When the first group of women arrived at Grand Valley Institution in January 1996, we went in to meet them. A couple of weeks later, we organized volunteers to go into the institution to do Monday night bingo with the women. This activity still continues.

In the summer of 1997, we hired a Communications Coordinator, Jan Van Stralen, on contract, to regularly visit the women, run the office and liaise with the Council about the women. We have been putting a lot of effort into fundraising, both for this position's future and for the future of the agency. This has been a major source of frustration for us.

Even though we are not the only agency in the community who supports this particular client group, we believe that we can provide a unique service, as we let the women guide us. As a new agency, we possess a creative energy, which can tackle any obstacle put before us. Most importantly, we are learning, changing and growing and look forward to the future with a strong spirit.

Holli Norman is a volunteer with the emerging Elizabeth Fry Society of Kitchener-Waterloo

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By Kim Pate

The Prison for Women was scheduled to close by September 1994. Due to a recent decision by the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC), however, it currently remains open and serves as the prison designated for women classified as "maximum security". A Special Needs Unit for women with "mental health concerns" is also housed on the range used for many years (and made infamous in 1994) as the prison's segregation unit.

After seven years of working toward the movement of women out of the Prison for Women (P4W) and into the purpose-built regional prisons for women -- Grand Valley Institution (GVI) in the Ontario region -- in January 1997, CSC announced that women who they classified as maximum security, as well as those identified as requiring significant mental health treatment, would not be transferred to GVI. Rather, it was announced that the women CSC identified as fitting into these two categories would be transferred to a unit in the Regional Treatment Centre at the Kingston Penitentiary, a men's prison. Moreover, the unit to which the women were scheduled to be moved was the same unit to which six women were involuntarily transferred in May of 1994. The women went to court to seek redress. In July of 1994, the court ordered CSC to return the women to P4W.

Similarly, in January of last year, once the women realized that CSC planned to move them to the isolated unit in Kingston Penitentiary, they sought legal assistance. When it became clear that CSC was entrenched in its decision to move the women, and that no other options would be considered by either the Commissioner or the Minister of the day, plans to mount a legal challenge to the decision commenced. In June of 1997, women classified as maximum security applied to the Ontario Provincial Court for relief by way of writ of habeas corpus and a declaration that the proposed involuntary transfers of the women to an isolated unit within Kingston Penitentiary was unlawful. The Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) was granted full-party intervenor status and joined the action in support of all federally sentenced women.

Following protracted movement through motions and arguments in the provincial court before Mr. Justice Cosgrove, and then the Ontario Court of Appeal, CSC announced in December of 1997 that they no longer planned to move women to Kingston Penitentiary. The announcement of CSC's change of plans came within twenty-four hours of the dismissal of their application to the Ontario Court of Appeal for a ruling as to whether or not the remedy of habeas corpus could lie in advance of the illegal detention for which remedial action is sought.

CSC was hoping that the Ontario Court of Appeal would rule in its favour and effectively dismantle our legal action. Instead, the Court of Appeal followed the line of decision making of the Supreme Court of Canada by stating that the remedy of habeas corpus may, in fact, lie prior to the involuntary transfer of a prisoner, where the involuntary transfer would result in a state of unlawful or illegal detention. Accordingly, the action is both a victory for the women in Ontario, as well as all other prisoners who face the prospect of involuntary transfer.

Although the linkages appear clear to everyone outside of the Correctional Service of Canada, we were initially advised that the change in policy was made independent of the legal action. In any event, CSC's seemingly myopic focus upon moving women whom they designate as maximum security prisoners into isolated units in men's prisons, has resulted in the retention of the women in the Prison for Women. The women and CAEFS were arguing that all of the women should be permitted to move to the regional prisons or the Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge. Up until January of 1997, this was also the position of CSC, as evidenced by the well-researched position articulated by the Task Force on Federally Sentenced Women, in its report entitled, Creating Choices.

CAEFS has been advised that the CSC now realizes that it was a mistake to move the women to the separate units in men's prisons in the first place. Unfortunately, we do not yet know how CSC plans to address what appears to be a change in policy. In the meantime, women remain in increasingly isolated and segregated units in Springhill Institution, the Saskatchewan Penitentiary and the Regional Psychiatric Centre. With few programming, work and release planning options available, the women are increasingly becoming mired in interpersonal and staff-prisoner conflicts that are creating toxic and extremely volatile conditions. Consequently, not only does the Prison for Women remain open, but it is increasingly becoming the repository of "difficult cases" nationally.

As this newsletter goes to print, there are 24 women remaining at P4W. Approximately one third are medium security prisoners, one is minimum, and the number of women with mental health and capacity issues is increasing. CAEFS remains committed to the closure of the Prison for Women and the accommodation of all federally sentenced women in the regional prisons or the Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge. We remain committed to working with CSC in the hope that the Correctional Service of Canada will also refocus its efforts to ensure the successful realization of its own plans, rather than continue to careen of course in a manner that is destined to continue to turn the clock back on corrections for women in this country.

Kim Pate is Executive Director of CAEFS

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It is with mixed feelings that we bid farewell to the Executive Director at the Ottawa Elizabeth Fry Society, Ishbel Solvason-Wiebe. While we congratulate her on her great new position as Executive Director of a new housing registry in the Ottawa region, we will most certainly miss her in our network. Ishbel has worked tirelessly for years in Ottawa, and has given generously of her time to Council for many activities. She is known as an activist in her community and recently ran for Parliament in her home area. Best of all, Ishbel is the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter and has earned a great reputation as a tea leaf reader extraordinaire! Ishbel - we wish you all the best in your new life but don't forget your old friends!

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From time to time, we find that the best way to reach people not familiar with our work, is to exchange our mailing list with like-minded non-profit organizations, and we strictly limit the use they can make of our mailing lists. However, you have the right not to have your name and address exchanged. If you wish, we will delete your name from these exchanges. Simply write, telephone or e-mail us and request the change.

Council of Elizabeth Fry Societies of Ontario
122 St. Patrick Street, Suite 210
Toronto, Ontario M5T 2X8
Telephone (416) 585-2842
Fax (416) 585-9424

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