Invisible women: correctional facilities for women across Canada and proximity to maternity services

• Published in: International journal of prisoner health Vol. 17; no. 2; pp. 69 - 86
• Main Authors: Paynter, Martha Jane, Bagg, M. Leslie, Heggie, Clare
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bingley Emerald Publishing Limited 28.05.2021; Emerald Group Publishing Limited
• Subjects: Abortion; Access; Children; Children & youth; Colonialism; Correctional institutions; Courthouses; Detention; Gender; Gender aspects; Gender differences; Gender identity; Girls; Health care; Health services; Immigration; Imprisonment; Involuntary; Jurisdiction; Maternal child nursing; Maternity hospitals; Maternity services; Medical research; Men; Mothers; Native peoples; Police; Policy making; Population; Pretrial; Prisoners; Prisons; Proximity; Psychiatric units; Public safety; Reproductive health; Sex; Sex differences; Women; Womens health; Youth; Canada; Canada; Women’s health; Incarceration; Maternal health; Prisoner health
• ISSN: 1744-9200; 1744-9219
• DOI: 10.1108/IJPH-06-2020-0039

Purpose This paper aims to describe the process to create an inventory of the facilities in Canada designated to incarcerate women and girls, health service responsibility by facility, facility proximity to hospitals with maternity services and residential programmes for mothers and children to stay together. This paper creates the inventory to support health researchers, prison rights advocates and policymakers to identify, analyse and respond to sex and gender differences in health and access to health services in prisons. Design/methodology/approach In spring 2019, this study conducted an environmental scan to create an inventory of every facility in Canada designated for the incarceration of girls and women, including remand/pretrial custody, immigration detention, youth facilities and for provincial and federal sentences. Findings There are 72 facilities in the inventory. In most, women are co-located with men. Responsibility for health varies by jurisdiction. Few sites have mother-child programmes. Distance to maternity services varies from 1 to 132 km. Research limitations/implications This paper did not include police lock-up, courthouse cells or involuntary psychiatric units in the inventory. Information is unavailable regarding trans and non-binary persons, a priority for future work. Access to maternity hospital services is but one critical question regarding reproductive care. Maintenance of the database is challenging. Originality/value Incarcerated women are an invisible population. The inventory is the first of its kind and is a useful tool to support sex and gender and health research across jurisdictions.