CAEFS News
April 4th, 2022
Press Release: The Courage of Formerly Incarcerated Women leads to Former Correctional Officer at Nova Institution Pleading Guilty to Sexual Assault and Breach of Trust
Today, a former correctional officer at the Nova Institution has pled guilty to three counts of sexual assault (s.271 cc) and three counts of breach of trust (s.122 cc). This plea comes many years after multiple women, who were then incarcerated at the Nova Institution for Women, came forward to share their experiences of being sexually assaulted.
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Read our full press release here.
Lisez notre communiqué de presse complet ici.
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February 10th, 2022
Press Release: The Failure of Creating Choices: CAEFS Response to the Office of the Correctional Investigator’s 2020-2021 Annual Report
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April 2020 marked the 30-year anniversary of Creating Choices, the report that was to serve as the blueprint for “women’s corrections” in Canada. Today, the Office of the Correctional Investigator (OCI) released their annual report, which includes a review of “women’s corrections” in Canada. Creating Choices identified nine key issues, which the OCI revisits in this report in the context of today’s federal prisons designated for women. The OCI report makes clear that not only have these nine key issues not been addressed, but the conditions experienced by federally incarcerated women and gender-diverse people have gotten much worse.
The OCI’s report confirms what the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) – and anyone who has been incarcerated in a federal prison designated for women - has long known: the principles of Creating Choices were never fully implemented, at least not in practice. The philosophy of the document was undermined by a shift to punitive responses.
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December 17th, 2021
Press Release: CAEFS' Response to the OCI’s Recent Reporting “Proportion of Indigenous Women in Federal Custody Nears 50%”
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Indigenous women will soon account for 50% of all federally incarcerated women, according to a statement released today by the Office of the Correctional Investigator (OCI). The number of Indigenous women, and Indigenous people of all genders, has continued to rise even as the overall federal prison population is in decline. The OCI reported that since 2012, the overall number of Indigenous people in federal prison has increased by 18.1%, whereas the number of non-Indigenous people in federal prisons has decreased by 28.26% over the same period. This is a crisis and requires immediate action on the part of the Federal Government and all parts of the criminal legal system, including the Correctional Service of Canada.
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November 30th, 2021
New Report: Spotlight on Solitary, Summary Report
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On Monday, November 16, 2020, a coalition of groups invested in justice for prisoners launched a 15-day spotlight on the ongoing practice of solitary confinement in Canada. This spotlight led up to the one-year anniversary of the supposed implementation of the Structured Intervention Units (SIUs) in federal Canadian prisons – an implementation that has received considerable public criticism over the failure of the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) to cooperate with the independent oversight committee, and a lack of meaningful change from the solitary confinement units they were intended to replace.
This report, released one year later, summarizes the panels from the Spotlight on Solitary campaign, most of which can be found on YouTube. These panels include some of Canada’s most respected and recognized advocates, scholars, lawyers, and politicians – and features the critical voices of individuals with lived experiences of incarceration and community groups.
You can read the full report here.
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November 30th, 2021
News Release: The Government Must Act to End Abusive Solitary Confinement
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Today is the two-year anniversary of the implementation of the Structured Intervention Units (SIUs) in federal Canadian prisons. The implementation of the SIUs was meant to mark the end of solitary confinement in Canada – but these past two years have shown otherwise. Solitary confinement continues in Canada. Two years on, a coalition of organizations and academics continue to call for the elimination of abusive solitary confinement in Canada. Today, they also release a report with insights from respected and recognized advocates, scholars, lawyers, and politicians on the ongoing practice of solitary confinement in Canada.
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Read the full press release here.
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November 18th, 2021
Public Statement and Call for Action "Advocates Call on Government and CSC to Act to Protect the Rights of Trans Prisoners"
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As an organization that advocates for the rights of federally incarcerated women and gender-diverse people – inclusive of trans people, CAEFS calls on the federal government and the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) to act in support of the rights of trans prisoners.
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Read our full statement and call for action here.
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November 16th, 2021
We Are Hiring: Director, Systems Change and Prisoners' Rights
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As the Director of Systems Change and Prisoners' Rights, you will be joining our national office as part of the leadership team, reporting to the Executive Director. This new and dynamic position includes coordinating CAEFS regional advocacy program and managing “Next Level Collaboration Project”, which seeks to bring the voices of people with lived experience of incarceration and / or poverty into systems change work. This is a senior position and will include management responsibilities.
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Read the full job posting here.
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November 12th, 2021
News Release "Advocates Celebrate “Important win” Following the Striking Down of Inhumane Dry Cell Law in Nova Scotia"
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Today, a Nova Scotia supreme court judge struck down the law that permits the use of dry celling, finding that it breaches section 15 of the Charter.
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Read the full press release here.
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November 10th, 2021
Updated job posting for Administrative Assistant
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We are continuing our search for an Administrative Assistant - check out the updated job posting for this dynamic position.
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Administrative Assistant: Full Time, 1 year contract with possibility of renewal, remote
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October 27th, 2021
We Are Hiring!
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We are hiring from three positions! Check out the job postings below or find them on Charity Village.
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Administrative Assistant: Full Time, 1- year contract with possibility of renewal
Housing Liaison: Full Time, Short- Term contract
Housing Development Coordinator: Full Time, Short-Term contract
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Deadline to apply is November 10th, 2021 at 9:00am eastern.
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September 28th, 2021
Our 2020 / 2021 Annual Report
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This year has been an incredible time of growth and change for CAEFS. Our team has expanded, the way we do our work has shifted dramatically, and how we think about our work continues to evolve. You can read about all of this, and more, in our 2020 / 2021 Annual Report.
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You can read our 2020 / 2021 Annual Report here.
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September 10th, 2021
Letter of Solidarity, The Faqiri Family
CAEFS and CEFSO add our names to the chorus of organizations and individuals who stand with the Faqiri family in this time of pain. Prisons cannot and do not keep us safe, nor are they places for healing.
You can read our letter of solidarity here.
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August 10th, 2021
Prisoner Justice Day 2021
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Today is Prisoners’ Justice Day – a day observed by incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, their loved ones, and those who stand in solidarity with them. Today, and every day, we at CAEFS remember and honour all those who have died while incarcerated and recommit ourselves to working towards a world without prisons.
You can read our full statement here.
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A list of community-led Prisoner Justice Day vigils and events can be found here.
June 4th 2021
CAEFS’ Public Statement Regarding a June 2nd, 2021 Open Letter
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On June 2nd, 2021, the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) received an open letter from a collective of women with experience of criminalization. CAEFS has responded by email to the signatories to the letter, as well as those copied. Given that the letter we received was made publicly available, we are issuing this public statement to be transparent in our position.
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May 31st 2021
Statement on the discovery of 215 children at a Kamloops Residential School
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The Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies is holding the families and communities of the 215 children who were found at the site of the Kamloops Residential School in our hearts. We mourn their deaths, and we mourn the loss of all that they would have brought to their families and communities had they not been killed.
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May 3rd 2021
Elizabeth Fry Week 2021: Human Rights in Action
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Every year, the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies and local Elizabeth Fry Societies across the
country mark Elizabeth Fry Week. We continue to mark Elizabeth Fry Week on the week leading up to mother's day because most women in prison are mothers, and many of these women were the sole supporters of their families at the time they were incarcerated. When mothers are sentenced to prison, their children are sentenced to separation. We draw attention to this reality by ending Elizabeth Fry Week on Mother’s Day each year. This year’s theme is Human Rights in Action.
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We’ve selected this theme to draw attention to the many ways that CAEFS, local Elizabeth Fry Societies & their
clients, and people who are incarcerated are working to defend and uphold the human rights of people in our
communities.
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Check us out us on social media and follow the hashtags #EFryWeek2021 and #HumanRightsinAction to stay up to date and join the conversation.
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Read our statement here and watch opening remarks from our executive director, Emilie Coyle on our YouTube channel here.
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March 8th 2021
Statement on Recent Reporting on Sexual Violence in Federal Prisons Designated for Women
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Today, the Globe and Mail published an article exposing Correctional Services Canada (CSC) for their failure to collect data reporting sexual violence perpetrated by staff against prisoners in Canadian federal prisons designated for women.
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Through our decades of advocacy work monitoring conditions of confinement in Canadian federal prisons designated for women, the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) has observed considerable indifference on behalf of CSC with respect to prisoners’ experiences of sexual violence from CSC staff. CAEFS has consistently noted that CSC has failed to create an environment that is supportive for survivors or conducive to the reporting instances of sexual violence from staff.
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Read our full report here [LINK]