Historic and ongoing racism in Canada has had enormous impacts on the health and well-being of racialized individuals in the country. As a result of disproportionate policing, bias in our criminal legal system, and other forms of systemic discrimination, Black people, as well as Southeast Asian men continue to be overrepresented in the criminal legal system, including in prison settings. Black people, for example, make up about 9% of the federal prison population in Canada but are only 4% of the overall population. Southwest Asian and North African men are also among the fastest growing populations in prison. Racialized women are the fastest growing population in prison. Incarceration exposes people to worse health outcomes, including increased risks of acquiring sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs), as well as toxic drug injury and death. As confirmed by the United Nation Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, “freedom from racial discrimination requires providing alternatives to detention and the provision of humane conditions of detention in strictly necessary cases, including access to healthcare.”
HARD TIME PERSISTS: HEALTHCARE AND HARM REDUCTION FOR RACIALIZED PEOPLE IN PRISON
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