The number of suicides and attempted suicides increased “dramatically” in Quebec detention facilities in 2020-2021. and 2021-2022, a period marked by the health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published Wednesday by a team from the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM).
Data obtained from Quebec’s Ministry of Public Security by researchers through an access to information request shows that 16 inmates took their own lives between April 2020 and March 2021.
In the following year (2021-2022), authorities recorded 10 suicides. This is more than in the two years preceding the pandemic (5 in 2018-2019 and 8 in 2019-2020), according to a forty-page study led by researcher Catherine Chesnay, a professor at the School of Social Work.UQAM.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, a period during which detention conditions were particularly restrictive was associated with a marked increase in the number of deaths classified as suicide
it is stated in the study under the title Deaths in provincial prisons : inventory.
The measures taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus – closures, quarantines, reductions in services and programs offered, etc. – along with the lack of staff, have been difficult for inmates.
Prison conditions really significantly affect the mental health of prisoners.
Ms. Chesnay explained in an interview on the show Noon informationat ICI Première.
And what can best prevent (suicide) will be connection with loved ones, meaningful connections with other people who are in prison or other people, staff members.
continues the researcher. And when the pandemic hit, the visits really stopped. Even lawyers could no longer go to prisons; the prisoners were isolated, all alone in their cells
she recalls.
It’s really the end of social connections, somewhere, which increases suffering, which can lead to suicide.
His team notes that the State Protector has recorded a 70% increase in complaints related to detention conditions and hygiene.
The study also notes a overall increase in the suicide rate
for the observed period as well as the other two peaks of suicides, namely 2011-2012. (13) and 2017-2018. (12).
Overall, the data shows 98 suicides in 13 years, or 38% of the 256 deaths that occurred between April 2009 and March 2022.
Suicide attempts are also on the rise
Suicide attempts have also increased. a significant increase
For reached a particularly high level in the last two years
report researchers sUQAM.
Their report thus counts 71 suicide attempts in the period 2020-2021. and 66 in the period 2021-2022, out of a total of 411 in 13 years. For comparison, the number of suicide attempts during the other years of the observed period varied between 2 and 46.
These numbers are particularly striking, as provincial detention centers house inmates serving sentences of less than two years (i.e., shorter sentences than those in federal penitentiaries), as well as defendants awaiting trial and convicted persons awaiting transfer.
The conditions of detention are hard in provincial prisons
Ms. Chesnay points out.
Catherine Chesnay criticizes, among other things, the conditions in the Leclerc detention facility in Laval.
Photo: Radio-Canada
If we think in particular of the prison in Quebec, (the one in) Bordeaux, (the Leclerc facility), we know that these are buildings that are dilapidated; there are vermin, hygienic conditions are bad. It certainly has an impact on prisoners, and even if the prison time is short, it has an impact on a person’s mental health.
she said Noon information.
Ministry of Public Security data compiled in the report from 2009 to 2022 also lists 85 deaths classified as natural
71 classified as having a undetermined cause
as well as two murders and no accidents.
Deaths classified as natural
they also account for a third of the deaths recorded in the entire period.
“Lack of transparency”
Catherine Chesnay said in front of the Radio-Canada microphone very surprised by the difficult access to data and quality data
.
She regrets the opacity of the prison system, the difficulty of having data to understand the needs of people there, as well as their trajectories and also the impact that incarceration has on their lives
.
According to her, her report shows lack of interest in preventing deaths in custody
. We know that people in prison die younger, die in greater numbers than people outside prison walls; this is a public health problem
she insists. What we see is that there is a lack of interest in solving this problem to prevent deaths.
she judges.
The lack of transparency and monitoring of the phenomenon of death in prison, despite the increase in the number of deaths, speaks volumes about political positioning and the lack of rigor with which these events are taken into account.
His team’s study is particularly stark when it comes to deaths classified as undetermined, which represent 28% of deaths that occurred in provincial jails between April 2009 and March 2022.
That’s about five or six people over a 10-year period who die in prison every year, and we can’t determine the cause.
laments the researcherUQAM.
Given that prisons are extremely controlled places and under constant surveillance, it is frightening not to get clear answers about such a tragic event as a death.
write the researcher and her colleagues.
However, according to Professor Chesnay, the coroner’s office is conducting an investigation into the death of an inmate in order to determine the cause, circumstances and identification of the deceased person
. It is surprising, she believes, that the Public Safety data has not been updated with the coroner’s conclusions.
For example, she raises the issue of opioids, which is in danger of being glossed over. Research in other provinces shows an increase in overdose deaths in prisons, she says.
Unfortunately, says Catherine Chesnay, with the numbers we currently have, we cannot confirm this hypothesis and cannot intervene to prevent these effects.
.
The League of Rights condemns the lack of transparency
The League for Rights and Freedoms (LDL) reacted to the report with condemnation opacity and lack of actions
Ministries of Public Security and alarming discrepancies in mortality
.
There LDL considers every death in custody suspicious and potentially related to the systematic violation of prisoners’ rights, which are repeatedly observed and called out
she wrote in a statement, saying she found abnormal
lack of information on deaths undetermined cause
.
The organization also highlights the need understand what drives so many people to attempt suicide while in prison
.
In their report, the researchers thank LDL, who, with his actions in defense of prisoners’ rights, led us to question the phenomenon of death in provincial prisons
.
If you or a loved one is in trouble, here are resources available:
In Quebec: (New window)
Call toll free 1 866 CALL (277-3553).
If you or a loved one is in immediate danger, call 911.
You can also text a worker on 535353: this confidential chat service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
In Quebec and Canada, 1 888 LE DEUIL (533-3845) is a bereavement hotline.
In Canada: (New window)
Call or text 988: this helpline is open 7 days a week, day and night.
For people bereaved by suicide,AQPS created an online space for sharing and testimonials available at mournparsuicide.ca (New window).