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There is a fundraiser being held for Velma on Sunday June 16th, 2002 at the Steelworkers Hall in Toronto. The hall is located at 25 Cecil Street. Doors open at 4.30pm and the program begins at 5.00pm. The suggested donation for the event is $10.00 and PWYC for unwaged.
We will be announcing the entertainment on this sight in the coming days, so be sure to check back. If you want more information, call 416 935 0942 and ask for Dylan or Erica.
WELCOME TO THE FRIENDS OF VELMA DEMERSON WEB SITE |
Imagine, at the age of 18, a police officer knocks on your door, arrests you without telling you why and, within one hour, delivers you to a judge who remands you into custody for one week for an offence which you were not aware you were committing. Imagine that, one week later, you are sentenced to imprisonment for one year and kept in a seven foot by four foot cell for most of the time when you are not required to darn socks and lift large bolts of cloth in a dismal prison while you are pregnant. Imagine that you give birth while in jail to a child that you can not nurture properly in such primitive conditions. When you are eventually released, you are told that your treatment was necessary because you were living unmarried with a Chinese man and was therefore incorrigible and leading an "idle and dissolute" life. NO APOLOGY
Although Velma Demerson eventually married the father of her child, Harry Yip, after her release her life was shattered emotionally by this experience. After 50 years, Velma is now fighting for justice.
The section of the Ontario Female Refuges Act under which Velma was arrested was formally abolished by the Ontario Government in 1958 and the Act itself abolished in 1964. However, Velma has never received any acknowledgement of the wrong done top her. The official stamp of approval of her treatment has left a slur on her character and a stigma that the years have not erased. Despite appealing to the Attorney General of Ontario and other government officials, she has never received an apology.
Velmas arrest in 1939 under the Female Refuges Act and the decision to jail her for a year for the offence of being "incorrigible" is more than a shameful, racist and sexist page in Ontarios history. It has left an existing blot on her reputation that we can help erase by finally obtaining official acknowledgement that her treatment was wrong.
HUNDREDS OF VICTIMS
Hundreds, perhaps thousands of women were arrested under the Female Refuges Act for being "incorrigible", a definition which included being drunk in public, begging and being pregnant out of wedlock. The power to imprison women between the ages of 15 and 35 for a period of up to two years constituted an invasion of the federal governments exclusive jurisdiction to legislate criminal law. Thus, even by 1939 standards, this law was unconstitutional.
The application of this law to Velma reflected narrow-minded bigotry against Chinese. Yet this bigotry is still with us. The failure of our present-day politicians to condemn this sordid past shows how little we have come.
A declaration by the courts that the law was unconstitutional can be the first step in Velmas campaign for justice and closure. Such a judicial declaration would vindicate Velma and make it possible for her and others to seek compensation for state-sanctioned flagrant abuse. It would also help the survivors of this treatment now suffering in silence to restore the dignity and pride that they, like Velma, were robbed of at such an early age.
Velmas struggle cannot be won by her alone. She needs public support, solidarity and financial assistance to help her wage her legal battle. The Ontario Government has failed to apologize to her repeated pleas. Her appeal to the courts is her last alternative.
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