Wellness Within: Defunding the police requires changing how we think about security

KJIPUKTUK (Halifax) – On Saturday Dr. Martha Paynter presented on behalf of Wellness Within to the members of the Subcommittee to Define Defunding the Police. This working group, chaired by El Jones, is tasked with proposing a police defunding strategy to the Board of Police Commissioners. We hope to continue publishing several more presentations over the next few days.

Wellness Within (WW) is a registered non-profit organization working for reproductive justice, prison abolition, and health equity in K’jipuktuk, Mi’kma’ki (Halifax, Nova Scotia). Since our formation in 2012, we have been providing support to women, gender diverse, and trans individuals who have experienced criminalization and are pregnant or parenting young children in Nova Scotia. We work in partnership with community and advocacy organizations across the province, and our 90+ members include formerly incarcerated people, doulas, health care providers, lawyers, students, researchers, mentors, and other community members. Our mandate allows us to serve community safety through our doula programs; education and outreach; research; and advocacy.

WW’s work and advocacy is deeply rooted in our commitment to decarceration and defunding the police. We have called on Halifax to defund, disarm, and dismantle the Halifax Regional Police and Royal Canadian Mounted Police. We know policing in Canada is founded on colonialism, and we are further motivated by the news of preventable tragedies, deaths at the hands of police throughout Canada, violent arrests of women and children, and racial profiling. We have been disappointed and discouraged by recent budget increases and urge the Municipality to divest from police spending and reinvest in our community.

Criminalized communities including sex workers, people who use drugs, trans, Black, Indigenous and racialized people have taught us that policing has never been about community safety. As Professor Alex S. Vitale wrote, the scope of policing has expanded dramatically over the last 50 years. Funding and services provided by all levels of government have been redirected into an increasingly militarized police force, now tasked with responding to folks in mental health distress, in poverty, those experiencing addictions, and gender-based violence.

Defunding requires changing how we think about security. It means removing these responsibilities from police and returning them to government and community resources offered by individuals trained in supporting our most vulnerable. Defunding should respond to the needs of the community and could look like support for local safe injection sites, sobering centres, restorative justice programs, and mental health crisis teams. It also requires addressing underlying systemic issues related to income, housing, education, food security, healthcare, and more.

While some police departments have been turning to initiatives such as body cameras to curb police violence and regain public trust, studies have shown that this technology has no impact on the behaviour of officers. With the prevalence of smartphones, videos of the use of police force are already widespread, and have done little to reverse the cycle or bring justice to those harmed. Actions such as body cameras which do not improve equitable outcomes and funnel more money into police departments are in direct opposition with the objective of defunding, and do not contribute to the goals of the movement. Instead, WW advocates for applying an intersectional gender and race-based lens to all community safety work. Defunding the police may require a transition, beginning with drastic funding cuts. Last year, we issued a call for change which provides guidance for this transition and calls on the Halifax Regional Police to initiate harm reduction through public engagement and policy change.

WW has seen first hand the harm that is perpetuated through policing and incarceration. This year, the COVID-19 pandemic has further marginalized vulnerable community members and halted supports offered by WW and countless other services that marginalized community members rely on. By establishing reliable funding and partnerships with local organizations working in healthcare, housing, food security, and more, the Municipality has an opportunity to reimagine community safety

About WW

WW volunteers have clearance to provide support at the Nova Institute for Women Federal Prison in Truro, the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility Provincial Jail in Burnside, and the Nova Scotia Youth Facility in Waterville. While incarcerated people typically have limited access to reproductive care, we offer support in pregnancy, abortion, childbirth, infant feeding, and newborn care for women, gender diverse and transgender people who have experienced criminalization.

We advocate for our clients who are on bail and parole across Nova Scotia by attending court proceedings, health and other appointments, and meeting clients where they are. We continue to expand the availability of these reproductive services by offering free doula training to underrepresented groups, developing a Queer and BIPOC doula network, and delivering conferences and other events for both health professionals and the general public around the health impacts of incarceration. Our publications include The Queer Doula Toolkit and Where to Go for Help in HRM: A Resource Guide.

Reproductive justice requires defunding the police

WW is also active in political advocacy around health equity, decarceration, and police abolition. Our community-based research includes collaborations with other organizations and researchers, such as the recently released Final Report for the 2019-2020 Reproductive Justice Workshop Project. This report is informed by a series of Reproductive Justice Workshops offered to people in 5 of Canada’s 6 prisons designated for women, initially in response to media reports and research regarding forced sterilization of Indigenous Women in the Saskatoon Health Region. Workshops explored how the reproductive health of incarcerated women, trans, non-binary, and Two Spirit people in Canada is threatened by their incarceration. Participants discussed their experiences having their reproductive rights violated while in prison and in police custody. As one participant shared,

“When I was pregnant, I was handcuffed and shackled and I fell going up the stairs.”

Completed in partnership with the Canadian Association for the Elizabeth Fry Societies, the report led to direct recommendations and calls for action. Participants overwhelmingly provided positive feedback about the sessions, and one expressed, “I appreciate you being here. This is wonderful. This is the first time seeing something like this. This is progress.”

Reproductive health and rights should not be stunning and new, but they are incompatible with systems that rely on punishment to address social harms. WW will continue to work for health equity, reproductive justice and prison abolition, through education, research, service and advocacy. We look forward to seeing Halifax envision a future beyond policing.