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Abstract: 

Women entering the workforce and those who are looking to advance can experience a myriad of barriers that affect their opportunities to succeed and become financially independent. These barriers become even more complicated when a woman also carries the weight of a criminal record. Sustainable employment opportunities for criminalized women can increase autonomy and quality of living and can expand on current social networks and resources. Additionally, meaningful employment can act as a protective factor against crime. This report describes the 2014 Women’s Employment Symposium, supported by the National Employment Strategy for Women Offenders, which brought together a diverse group of direct service users, community service agencies, as well as public and private sector organizations specializing in pre-employment training, short- and long-term job placement and social enterprise development to share experiences, align resources, outline future targets, and discuss best practices dedicated to enhancing criminalized women’s employment opportunities.

Keywords: Women offenders, employment barriers, workforce training, Safer Foundation, KLINK employment partners, Women’s Employment Symposium

Affiliations:  1: St. Leonard’s Society of Toronto.