Author Description

The over-representation of Aboriginal women in prison relative to their numbers in the general population has reached alarming proportions in this province. These women face some of the most severe hardships in our society, including the intergenerational affects of residential schools and colonial state policies such as the "Indian Act," poverty, histories of physical and sexual abuse, debilitating mental health issues, and problems with drugs and alcohol. By all accounts, incarceration has only compounded the women's troubles. Simply building a new prison will not resolve the current situation. A more imaginative and comprehensive plan is required. Manitoba has the benefit of the legacy of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry Report. There is much in this report that is instructive in fashioning such a plan. The overriding goal should be to reduce the numbers of women involved in the criminal justice system. This involves strengthening women's ties to their children, families, and communities. A restorative justice approach, based on a holistic approach to healing and a community-based model that (re)builds the social safety net, would ensure that women are provided with access to the range of multi-faceted services they need (recovery from substance abuse and victimization, academic upgrading, job-skill training, and parenting skills programming). Because the numbers of women are small and they pose a minimal risk to social safety, most can be accommodated in the community by means of open-custody facilities, group homes, home placements, and halfway houses.