National groups, municipality back push to get proper menstrual products to Kenora District Jail inmates

Efforts to get Ontario's solicitor general to ensure better-quality menstrual products are available for inmates at the Kenora District Jail have gained the support of several national groups and a local municipality.  

Last month, community advocate Tania Cameron toured the jail with Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa and spoke with two dozen female inmates about concerns over lack of accessible period products.

Cameron said she was told by inmates that they must request a menstrual product from a correctional officer (CO) every time they need one, and they're receiving period "pads on a roll" that are more like panty liners and not absorbent enough for their needs.

She said she also saw two dysfunctional toilets in the female blocks and was told by inmates that they've been using "about a blanket a day" to stop one from leaking, while the other one is barely usable.

"The CO in that moment said that there are immediate plans for repair, but the women were telling me it could be down for days and they try not to use it," Cameron told CBC News on Monday.

Since Cameron raised these concerns, several national "menstrual equity" groups across Canada have sounded the alarm over the situation at the jail. Kenora's city council also passed a resolution earlier this month that calls for:

• More education for correctional staff about menstrual cycles.
• A new policy to make sure menstrual products are delivered within 15 minutes of being requested by an inmate.
• Research into alternative options for menstrual supplies, including period underwear.

"It makes me feel really good," Cameron said of seeing this support.

"When I share this with the women that are in the Kenora jail, I know that they're surprised that someone's paying attention to this matter."

Province says inmates have 'always' had access

A spokesperson for the solicitor general's office told CBC News that inmates have access to a wide range of menstrual products. They did not respond to a followup question about the toilets.

"The ministry provides inmates at all provincial correctional facilities with menstrual products at no cost. The products that are available free of charge in female units at all provincial correctional facilities include varieties of tampons, varieties of sanitary napkins as well as panty liners," said Greg Flood, spokesperson for the solicitor general's office, in an email to CBC News on Friday.

"Female inmates at the Kenora jail have always had access to free menstrual products located near the washroom in the female unit."

However, Cameron said that wasn't the case when she visited the jail in June.

"They could say technically there's menstrual products in the facility, but I saw the shelves myself — they're just outside the cell block," Cameron said.

"I don't understand why they just don't have it inside by the washrooms where they can just … select the type they need for their flow in that moment."

Rise in correctional services cases: ombudsman

Cameron has written two letters to the solicitor general's office and left a voicemail, she said. As of Monday, she had not received a response. Her letters were also forwarded to the Office of the Ombudsman Ontario. 

Last week, staff with the ombudsman visited the Kenora jail "to speak with inmates and with correctional and health-care staff, observe conditions, flag complaint trends and discuss solutions."

While a spokesperson for the office told CBC News they cannot comment on specific complaints, visits like these "enable us to be proactive and raise issues with the Ministry of the Solicitor General in our regular meetings so that issues may be addressed without the need for an investigation," said manager of communications Ashley Bursey.

The Office of the Ombudsman Ontario handled more than 4,400 cases related to correctional services in 2023-2024, an increase of 26 per cent over the previous year. Its annual report released last month does not mention complaints pertaining to menstrual products specifically.

"The most common inmate concerns continued to be medical care, overcrowding, lockdowns, segregation (solitary confinement) and the use of force by correctional officers," says the report.

Last year, staff members visited the Sudbury Jail, Maplehurst Correctional Complex and Vanier Centre for Women and Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre.

"With so many cases involving the human rights of inmates every year, we are committed to remaining abreast of the latest developments and best practices in the correctional services field. We exchange information with colleagues nationally and internationally about standards for humane and effective correctional practices," the report says.

Periods have 'always just been an afterthought'

Veronica Brown is Ontario chapter lead for Moon Time Connections, one of eight menstrual equity organizations that wrote to the solicitor general's office after learning about the concerns raised by Cameron. The other groups are:

• Free Periods Canada.
• Monthly Dignity.
• Here for Her.
• Period Pin.
• Help A Girl Out.
• Period Purse.
• Menstruation REdefined.

Brown wasn't shocked to hear about the situation in Kenora, saying periods have "always just been an afterthought."

"It's always been a hushed topic. There's always been stigma around it," Brown said. "When we have a lot of male leadership, a lot of men don't really understand menstruation, what that looks like … there's just not enough education, there's not enough awareness."

Brown has been following research out of Douglas College in B.C. Among projects being led by the school's Menstrual Cycle Research Group is one called Menstrual Pains of Imprisonment: Reproductive Health in Canadian Prisons.

"Inmates are still people, right? They still deserve to be treated with dignity. They still deserve to have their basic human rights addressed, and that includes menstruation," said Brown.

There have been some positive developments in recent years, including the federal government mandating that all federally regulated workplaces provide employees with menstrual products at no cost. There's also the Menstrual Equity Fund Pilot led by Women and Gender Equality Canada, which aims to reduce period poverty across Canada.  

"We are starting to see more women in leadership roles who have menstruated before to say, 'Hey, by the way, if there is a washroom — there also needs to be menstrual products there,'" Brown said.

"The more that we have conversations about accessibility, about awareness, about understanding from a cultural perspective, the more that we will normalize periods." 

Cameron said she continues to provide money to female inmates in Kenora who requested support, so they can buy better-quality menstrual products at the canteen. She plans to check in with them in September to see if anything has changed and then seek more donations if necessary.