A Legacy of Harm: Punitive Drug Policies and Women’s Carceral Experiences in Canada

There is limited research on the gendered impacts of drug policies in Canada, despite the fact that women, Indigenous women in particular, are the country’s fastest growing prisoner population, with many incarcerated for drug-related crimes. This article highlights the results of a larger qualitative study with former prisoners in Ontario and community and medical experts from across the country. Focusing on the women research participants, we consider the lack of adequate and culturally-relevant substance use and harm reduction programming in federal prisons, and suggest a reformulation of Canada’s punitive drug policies toward a health and social welfare approach.     

Gender Discrimination in Microfinance? Some Evidence from Uganda

Abstract

Microfinance literature has proved the existence of gender discriminatory practices against women in some specific contexts. Discrimination is often explored from the access side (loans approved or denied). Following Agier and Szafarz (2013), we deviate from this practice and use the variable loan size, considering up to four loans for each client. Drawing on data from a microfinance programme in Uganda, we find no evidence of gender discrimination against women clients, even though our results show that the loan size is influenced by personal characteristics and that women, in contrast to men, are rewarded according to their credit history.     

Crime Trends in the EU

The paper’s aim is to show to EU policy makers, academics, journalists and the general public what the available information tells us about crime levels, trends in crime and public opinion about crime among Member States. The paper centres on an analysis of current trends on crime levels and trends based on the data available both from victimisation surveys and police statistics. The victimisation survey source is the published data collected in the International Crime Victimisation Survey. A separate analysis based on the Eurobarometer was also carried out. Data on police statistics present two separate sources i.e. the Council of Europe Sourcebook and the crime data published annually by the UK Home Office. These two sources both add considerable value to the raw police statistics by their choice of data, their commentary and their technical explanations and definitions. The paper compares data on three crime types (robbery, domestic burglary and theft of a motor vehicle) across the 15 Member States of the European Union (as in 2003). These three types were selected in line with the priorities of the EU Commission and as types of crime that are a major concern for EU-citizens. The paper has been modified from a report produced by the European Crime prevention network for the EU Directorate of Justice and Home Affairs with the permission of the EU. The members of the network are listed in the appendix.     

The British whistleblower protection bill

This paper critically examines the first attempt to offer general statutory protection to United Kingdom whistleblowers. Despite some useful provisions, the paper concludes that the bill is retrogressive, unsophisticated and narrow; and that it will be the legal profession not employees of conscience who will benefit from this instrument if it passes into law. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.