HALIFAX—When Dawn Corkum asked women inside Nova Scotia’s largest jail about what they most wanted upon their release, many of them told her they hoped to have two things restored: their dignity and their privacy.

But the process of being released after incarceration can make both of those things elusive, according to Corkum, a housing support worker for the Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia.

Women are often sent back into their communities with their possessions in a clear plastic bag — a practice that Corkum called “dehumanizing,” because it simultaneously brands them as former inmates and puts all their personal belongings out on public display.

“That kind of really bothered me,” she said in an interview.

So, in response, the Elizabeth Fry Society — a charity organization that works with criminalized women and girls — launched the Positive Release program earlier this month. Corkum and her colleagues are taking backpacks filled with toiletries and a few other essentials to give to women as they get out of the Central Nova Correctional Facility in Dartmouth — also known as Burnside jail.

Corkum said she relied on the insight of women who have spent time inside Burnside to help her choose the items for the bags. She sent a questionnaire to women in the jail last year and, based on the feedback, she’s collected shampoo, tampons, clothes, bus tickets, condoms and resource guides, among other items.

The program has so far been entirely funded by donations, including 100 backpacks from a manufacturer and 200 condoms from the Halifax Sexual Health Centre. Corkum said she’s already delivered three backpacks and, based on the average number of releases from Burnside each year, she should have enough supplies to last about nine months.

The Nova Scotia Department of Justice confirmed that staff at Burnside are working with Elizabeth Fry to provide women with the stocked backpacks as they’re released. Department spokesperson Heather Fairbairn said in an email statement that “reintegration to community can be difficult.”

“Providing inmates with programming and supports to help them make positive changes as they transition back to the community is a key focus for us,” Fairbairn added.

While the program is a first for Elizabeth Fry, Martha Paynter said she’s familiar with other similar initiatives, and she isn’t surprised that the need persists. The doctoral nursing candidate and advocate for incarcerated women told Star Halifax that the difficulty of reintegration is rooted in a justice system that is too punitive.

“Of course people need these things,” Paynter said in an interview, referring to the backpack program.

“Of course people need the basics — they’ve been deprived of them.”

“I’m a nurse, so obviously I understand the need to meet immediate needs,” said Paynter.

But, she added, she’d like to see more of a focus on “the big picture,” including issues of poverty, addiction and sexualized violence, and how they contribute to criminalization.

Paynter said that non-profits and charities like Elizabeth Fry do “great” work, but she noted their limitations.

“Elizabeth Fry can’t address the systemic issues; our government has to address the systemic issues.”

“We have to decriminalize addiction, we have to raise income assistance rates — that’s not something (a non-governmental organization) can do, that is something Stephen McNeil’s government has to take responsibility for,” said Paynter.

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In addition to operating as a provincial prison, Burnside is also a remand centre, which means some people inside have been charged but not convicted of a crime.

Paynter questioned the justice of taking women with no outstanding convictions from their homes, thus disrupting their employment, housing and families.

“The least you can do is make sure that they have the basics for hygiene and medical care when they’re released.”

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