08/10/2026
Since 2000, the Tracking (In)Justice Project documented 134 deaths of women, two trans women, one trans man, and one Two-Spirit person in custody in Ontario. The gender of 730 individuals (30.7%) could not be confirmed due to lack of gender-based reporting by the Ontario government. These deaths highlight the importance of recognizing the experiences of gender-diverse people in custody. These numbers represent the loss of real human beings with a family, a community, and a life.
The circumstances surrounding these deaths frequently reflect the complex health and social needs of women and gender-diverse people in custody. Research consistently demonstrates that incarcerated women experience disproportionately high rates of trauma, substance use, chronic illness, mental health disabilities, and histories of violence, requiring comprehensive and gender-responsive approaches to care.
The death of Shannon Nichole Sargent, a 34 year old Indigenous woman, illustrates many of these intersecting issues. Sargent died at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre from cardiac complications associated with chronic intravenous drug use shortly after being admitted to custody following heart surgery. Following an inquest, the jury returned the finding of homicide, concluding that deliberate and deceitful failures on behalf of the prison. Sargent's case demonstrates how individual deaths often reveal broader systemic challenges at the intersection of prison systems, health care delivery, and institutional duty to care.
Deaths in custody are closely connected to the broader health and social inequities experienced by many people living with HIV. Criminalization disproportionately affects people living with HIV who experience poverty, substance use, homelessness, and systemic discrimination, increasing incarceration. When continuity of HIV care, access to treatment, and timely medical intervention are disrupted in custody, the consequences can be severe, contributing to preventable illness, worsening health outcomes, and, in some cases, deaths in custody. Recognizing these intersecting risks is essential to preventing avoidable deaths and ensuring that people living with HIV receive equitable, evidence-based care throughout incarceration and upon release.
