WELCOME TO THE
PRISON TRANSPARENCY PROJECT
About
The Prison Transparency Project is an international research and advocacy partnership between academics, NGOs, folx with lived experience, advocates, artists, and journalists, working to expose failures of carceral transparency in Argentina, Canada, and Spain. Our goal is to create a knowledge base that will push for greater transparency in carceral systems worldwide, and raise awareness of the crisis of transparency in carceral facilities. Follow us in our efforts to bring change to the world as we know it.
Meet the international collective of researchers leading the project
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We are a team of researchers, people with lived experience of incarceration, public bodies, NGOs, grassroots organizations, lawyers, journalists, and families and friends of incarcerated people from Argentina, Canada, and Spain. Our aim is to collect and share stories and information, and to study and compare systems of carceral transparency.
We're building
partnerships and connections with those who share our passion for transparency in carceral systems. The PTP exists to serve our partners and their research needs. There are many ways to get involved, from collaborating to learning to supporting existing activist and advocacy groups. Watch this space for more info, coming soon.
Our goal is to establish new research and advocacy networks between the three participating countries, create the knowledge base needed to push for international standards of transparency, and raise awareness of the crisis of transparency in prisons and migrant detention centres on the global stage.
![As Anita Szigeti argues, coercion [or incarceration] should not be mistaken for care.
As governments across Canada expand forced treatment approaches for substance use, important questions about transparency, accountability, and incarceration are being pushed to the forefront.
When limited beds, staff, and treatment spaces are increasingly directed toward involuntary detention and forced care, many seeking voluntary supports are left behind.
Expanding coercive systems without first ensuring meaningful access to voluntary treatment risks deepening an already overwhelmed system, while failing the very people reaching out for care.
Provinces are increasingly investing in coercive models tied to detention, confinement, and institutional control — including within correctional environments.
These conversations matter because prison populations are disproportionately made up of marginalized and vulnerable people, including those living with mental health and substance use challenges. Expanding involuntary treatment without meaningful public scrutiny risks increasing institutionalization while failing to address the underlying lack of accessible, voluntary, community-based care.](https://scontent-den2-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/726850208_17970698343078645_2720142266350123286_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&_nc_cat=104&ccb=7-5&_nc_sid=18de74&efg=eyJlZmdfdGFnIjoiQ0FST1VTRUxfSVRFTS5iZXN0X2ltYWdlX3VybGdlbi5DMyJ9&_nc_ohc=Xx3gzTPVFXMQ7kNvwEBNM5I&_nc_oc=Adrmgwz7hIs8GKGgLwkjVbENMGBvlQcjHsb-pNn7EAiyDvLhbsEku6Nr-iLBpxNOGEs&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-den2-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&_nc_gid=fGZ7sSMxBBvrGPERtPNe1A&_nc_tpa=Q5bMBQGNniRbHPSQl4P3OsPbgLbnRp_KdD7klkwrYriEFxT2Bs314XA0eqAdK3aUIpMrZLIyFehzyjFZ&oh=00_Af8psXavCsvefgT4ixLr__buNOgrDsNR-ClKtc8wXACuOQ&oe=6A3D50E1)
![[Book Clubs for Inmates writes:]
We are writing to you in a moment that calls for uncommon solidarity across Canada’s literacy, education, social justice, publishing, business, and library communities.
Correctional Service Canada (CSC) has announced its intention to eliminate all librarian positions in federal penitentiaries nationwide and to terminate funding for the CEGEP education program serving incarcerated students in Quebec institutions. These decisions represent not incremental adjustments, but a sweeping dismantling of core rehabilitative infrastructure.
Through our partners at National Associations Active in Criminal Justice (NAACJ), we are coordinating a national sign-on letter to the Minister of Public Safety urging immediate intervention.
We respectfully ask you to review and sign our letter here by Friday, February 27, so we may submit a unified, cross-sector response on Monday, March 2.
This is a national literacy issue. It is a human rights issue. It is a public safety issue.
If you are unable to sign, we would still welcome your advice and engagement. If you need more information before signing, please contact Sarah Smith-Eivemark (ssmitheivemark@outlook.com).
Moments like this test whether our commitments to literacy, education, and equitable access extend to those in custody. We hope you will stand with us.
With appreciation and urgency,
Tom Best
Executive Director
Book Clubs for Inmates
bookclubsforinmates.com](https://scontent-den2-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/640397037_17955203271078645_6552113550680002465_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&_nc_cat=107&ccb=7-5&_nc_sid=18de74&efg=eyJlZmdfdGFnIjoiQ0FST1VTRUxfSVRFTS5iZXN0X2ltYWdlX3VybGdlbi5DMyJ9&_nc_ohc=eGLq6CSk3L0Q7kNvwG-hIuV&_nc_oc=AdrikEfs7-b8PVb6vcVjwwafV82KoEykcf18LZuSE8gmTIVGcp8wCGhKuZZ5opxm7Ys&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-den2-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&_nc_gid=fGZ7sSMxBBvrGPERtPNe1A&_nc_tpa=Q5bMBQGUueBifg6qYs6-eKOJFs9VTILEjPVhYS6z6bR6kjMJOmFA8jfKJ3XPbPUXM6wBffA72Bxjpuhb&oh=00_Af8GWKOwBLFYHEEbt1ZORphRqjqWnRL8J-9cs0xIv7eYFg&oe=6A3D4172)
