During
the week leading up to Mother’s Day (May 2-9), join our social media
campaign to show support for Alberta abuse survivor, farmer, and
grandmother Helen Naslund.
Helen was sentenced to 18 years in prison for
defending herself against the constant threat of being killed by her
abusive husband. She endured almost three decades of
coercive-controlling abuse, only to be punished for surviving.
Allowing the current sentence to stand would constitute a grave
miscarriage of justice.
This
week of online action is to support Helen’s appeal, and to publicly
denounce one of the most severe sentences ever meted out against a woman
in Canada defending herself from male violence in the home.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
1. Take a selfie while holding a statement like “I Stand With Helen Naslund: Stop Punishing Survivors!” or “Helen Naslund Should Not Be In Jail for Surviving” or “Jailing Women Who Defend Themselves is a Crime, #StandWithHelen”, etc.
1. Take a selfie while holding a statement like “I Stand With Helen Naslund: Stop Punishing Survivors!” or “Helen Naslund Should Not Be In Jail for Surviving” or “Jailing Women Who Defend Themselves is a Crime, #StandWithHelen”, etc.
2.
When you post your selfie, share a few words about why you are doing
this, and include a link to the petition in support of Helen:
https://www.change.org/p/appeal-draconian-18-year-sentence-of-alberta-abuse-survivor-helen-naslund
(If you are not on social
media, email it to tasc@web.ca and we can share it for you on the Women Who Choose to Live Facebook
page)
3.
Email a copy of your selfie to Women Who Choose to Live at tasc@web.ca,
and we’ll be sure to send a copy to Helen.
4. If you would like to write a Mother’s Day card/note to Helen, contact tasc@web.ca for details and an address.
5. If you work with an organization that would like to write a support letter, contact tasc@web.ca and we’ll send you details!
BACKGROUND
In October, 2020, Helen Naslund was sentenced to 18 years in prison on a charge of manslaughter. As many have pointed out, she had already been held captive for close to 30 years in an incredibly abusive marriage. In an agreed upon statement of facts, the Crown acknowledged that throughout the marriage, there were “many” instances of physical and emotional abuse committed against Naslund, who at five foot, one inch, weighed about 100 pounds.
In October, 2020, Helen Naslund was sentenced to 18 years in prison on a charge of manslaughter. As many have pointed out, she had already been held captive for close to 30 years in an incredibly abusive marriage. In an agreed upon statement of facts, the Crown acknowledged that throughout the marriage, there were “many” instances of physical and emotional abuse committed against Naslund, who at five foot, one inch, weighed about 100 pounds.
Indeed,
the way Helen Naslund described it, her spouse was a classic abuser:
"When I was in public he was always right there, if I talked to a friend
he had to be there with his input. I couldn't go anywhere without him …
it was always 'do as I say or else.'"
The
statement of facts also acknowledged that "due to the history of abuse,
concern for her children, depression and a learned helplessness, she
felt she could not leave."
It is not clear why a guilty plea of manslaughter was entered, nor why her defence lawyer worked in tandem with the Crown to produce such an extraordinarily disproportionate sentence even as they discussed -- but then dismissed -- the availability of a defence based on "battered woman syndrome."
A Draconian Sentence
Elizabeth Sheehy (whose book Defending Battered Women on Trial is an indispensable resource) pointed out in an Edmonton Journal interview that 18 years is among the longest of any manslaughter sentence imposed on an abused woman, and the majority of women in the cases she has studied received two years or less and sometimes a suspended sentence or house arrest. (A much smaller number received a federal sentence, the longest of which was 10 years).
Elizabeth Sheehy (whose book Defending Battered Women on Trial is an indispensable resource) pointed out in an Edmonton Journal interview that 18 years is among the longest of any manslaughter sentence imposed on an abused woman, and the majority of women in the cases she has studied received two years or less and sometimes a suspended sentence or house arrest. (A much smaller number received a federal sentence, the longest of which was 10 years).
Helen's
son Wesley gave a post-sentencing interview in which he detailed the
many ways his mother tried to navigate the terror of living with her
abusive spouse.
"Nothing
worked," he said. "And I believe at the end, when it happened, I
believe that my mother was -- I could tell she wasn't mom no more. She
was empty, she was blank. At times, you'd look at her and you'd swear
her eyes were hollow."
Wesley
says he was also beaten by his father, and that it was always like
walking on eggshells, having to account for everything he did. His
father always kept a gun close at hand, ruling by threat and
intimidation.
Setting Things Back 40 Years
He also says his mom tried to leave when he was 16, and he remembers her coming out of the bedroom after telling her husband it was over. When she emerged, he said, "she had tears in her eyes and all she said was 'I can't go, he says he'll find me and he'll kill me.'"
He also says his mom tried to leave when he was 16, and he remembers her coming out of the bedroom after telling her husband it was over. When she emerged, he said, "she had tears in her eyes and all she said was 'I can't go, he says he'll find me and he'll kill me.'"
Jenny
Wright, an expert panelist with the Canadian Femicide Observatory for
Justice and Accountability, writes: “In decades of anti-violence work, I
have not witnessed such a punitive sentence as the sentence against Ms.
Naslund… I am profoundly and deeply alarmed at the continuous and
prevalent pattern of criminalizing the survivors of gender-based
violence, which perpetuates the abuse and does not serve the public
interest. In fact, such a cruel and disproportionate sentence against
Ms. Naslund erases 40 years of vital advocacy – culturally and
systemically – to educate society about what gender-based violence is
and its devastating impact on victims, families, communities and society
as a whole.”
While
Helen has launched an appeal of her sentence, she still has a difficult
road ahead as the case winds its way through the courts and she remains
behind bars. Your support in the week leading up to Mother’s Day and
going forward will play a critical role both to lift Helen’s spirits and
to stop this dangerous precedent from being used against other
survivors.
MOTHER’S DAY FOR INCARCERATED WOMEN
Over
the past few years, there’s been a reclamation of Mother’s Day from a
saccharine Hallmark moment to a call to action responding to the fact
that women (many of whom are parents and most of whom are racialized)
represent the fastest growing sector of the prison population in Canada.
According
to Policy4Women, “82 percent of women in prison are jailed as a result
of behaviour related to attempts to cope with poverty, histories of
abuse, and addiction and mental health issues that commonly arise from
these experiences. In every province and territory, social assistance
payments are so inadequate that women end up criminalized for doing what
they must to support themselves and their children….87 percent of all
women in federal prisons in Canada have experienced physical and/or
sexual abuse….If a woman uses force to protect herself or others –
especially if a weapon is involved – she will commonly face the full,
often disproportionate, weight of the law.”
(More at: https://www.criaw-icref.ca/images/userfiles/files/P4W_BN_IncarcerationRacializedWomen_Accessible.pdf)
Since
1991, when the Task Force on Federally Sentenced Women, Creating
Choices, produced a report on rising numbers of women in prison, the
number of women sentenced to federal jails – especially racialized women
– has risen 200%. (more at https://www.policyalternatives.ca/.../decriminalizing-race)
Additional articles:
To get involved, contact Women Who Choose to Live at tasc@web.ca
All Canadians need to rise to the challenge of defending women and girls who are not being protected by those who are charged with their protection, namely, the police. Men need to take responsibility for their own behaviour and STOP abusing women, and men must call out other men when they see or know it is happening. We must all be accountable for each other's well-being.
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