Advocacy in Prisons Designated for Women

Regional advocates receive training and support to support and work in solidarity with federally incarcerated people in prisons designated for women to utilize redress systems effectively and create positive impacts and systemic change.

How advocates work:

• By educating and supporting people to write effective grievances
• By attending disciplinary hearings and security reclassification reviews
• By providing advice about laws and policies to the population
• By problem solving with prison management and prisoner committees

What issues advocates can support with:

• Disciplinary charges
• Human rights violations
• Release plans
• Security classification and parole suspensions
• Issues resulting from conditions of confinement
• The establishment of cultural and identity committees

Regional Advocates are usually volunteers in the community who advocate in various capacities to monitor the conditions of confinement and uphold the rights of federally incarcerated people in prisons designated for women. Advocates speak with incarcerated people and document the legal, civic, and human rights issues that they experience. This occurs daily through CAEFS advocacy phone lines and monthly through in-person visits to the prison.

In addition to documenting issues, advocates educate individuals in penal laws and policy, and how to utilize them in redress processes. The goal is to provide allyship and support in a way that serves their liberation, advocating for them when doing so themselves poses risks to their safety and liberty, or when additional barriers exist, but always working to raise awareness and provide people with the tools and skills to utilize redress processes and understand the legal and policy obligations of the CSC.

Every month, someone (often several people) from the team then meets with senior management of the prison, usually the warden and departmental wardens. Advocates raise the issues that have been reported, then work with the prison to address and resolve each issue.

Following each visit, these discussions are documented through regional advocacy letters. The letters form a core part of CAEFS advocacy work. They outline the concerns that are raised, the laws and policies that support these concerns, what the prison’s position on each issue is, and explicitly state CAEFS calls for remedies, responses, and further actions needed. Each time a letter is completed, it is not only sent to the prison wardens, but also to the Deputy Commissioner for Women’s Prisons at Correctional Services Canada, the Office of the Correctional Investigator, the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the Citizen’s Advisory Committees, as well as key Senators and additional stakeholders.

Through this format, the regional advocacy team provide a real-time link between abuses occurring on the ground in Canadian prisons designated for women and change-makers who can work to address and redress issues that persist in federal penitentiaries designated for women.

CAEFS introduced the Peer Advocacy program in 2015 as a hybrid position which is both institutionally recognized and with institutional pay provided by the Correctional Service of Canada, but with training and position support provided externally by the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies.

Peer Advocates receive training at least bi-annually (every other year), with regular ongoing support and resources provided through Regional Advocates. With the support of Regional Advocates in the community, Peer Advocates work in teams in penitentiaries in various ways to monitor the conditions of confinement and to uphold the rights of federally incarcerated people in prisons designated for women.

Our approach to advocacy emphasizes working in teams to create supportive advocacy structures that foster solidarity. By this approach, we create the kinds of systems that we want to exist in the world, and we shrink the kinds of systems that harm people and communities.

Advocates speak with other incarcerated people and document the legal, civic, and human rights issues that they experience. At CAEFS, we encourage women and gender diverse people under sentence to “document, document, document.” Ensuring people have written records of the things that happen to them in prison is a strong tool to advocacy and redress of issues. In addition to documenting issues, advocates educate individuals in penal laws and policy, and how to utilize redress processes, such as informal resolution, complaints and grievances, and external redress options such as legal and human right applications.

Advocates also work to build a more supportive peer culture in prison, assisting the prisoners committee to carry out mutual goals, working with other cultural/unique need groups, and beyond.

Regional Advocacy letters remain a core part of CAEFS work. Regional Advocacy Letters summarizing systemic issues reported to CAEFS through advocacy phone lines and in-person advocacy visits to the federal prisons designated for women. The letters also outline the laws and policies that support these concerns, what the prison’s position on each issue is, and explicitly state CAEFS calls for remedies, responses, and further actions needed.

Each time a letter is completed, it is sent to the prison wardens, the Deputy Commissioner for Women’s Prisons at Correctional Services Canada, the Office of the Correctional Investigator, the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the Citizen’s Advisory Committees, as well as key Senators and additional stakeholders.

Through this format, advocacy letters provide real-time links between abuses occurring on the ground in Canadian prisons designated for women and change-makers who can work to address and redress the gross injustices that continue to define federal incarceration for women and gender diverse people.

The letters are also indexed and coded into CAEFS’ regional advocacy letter database, which enables us to track issues over time. This coding work is made possible by volunteer law students through Pro Bono Students Canada.