Ting Forum examines critical issues in women's corrections

National experts joined together to discuss critical issues in women’s corrections for a recent David and Cecilia Ting Forum on Justice Policy hosted by SFU’s School of Criminology.

The event welcomed members from the SFU community, and those working in the field of corrections, to participate and provide feedback to the guest speakers.

“The federally sentenced women's prisoner population has grown by more than 35% in the past decade, so it is imperative we continue to examine critical issues in women's corrections to, among other things, address their unique risk/needs profile, identify strategies to safely and humanely confine them (including those with mental health issues), and design and implement social justice and correctional policies to reduce the overrepresentation of Aboriginal women in federal institutions, as they are the fastest growing federal prisoner population in Canada,” says Lecturer Danielle Murdoch, who organized and moderated the Ting Forum.

The guest speakers included Senator Kim Pate, Correctional Investigator Dr. Ivan Zinger, Lisa Monchalin, professor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and Warden Sav Bains, Fraser Valley Institution.

Topics of concern included the overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples in Canada’s prisons, inmates’ mental health and treatment options, the use of segregation (solitary confinement), barriers to reintegration upon inmates’ release into the community, and the functionality of maximum-security units.

“I'd like to extend my thanks to the panellists and audience members for their contributions to the dialogue,” says Murdoch.