Wellness Within Calls for the Banning of Spit Hoods in Canada

The Tracking (In)Justice project has found that since 2014, at least nine people have died wearing a spit hood in Canadian custody facilities. Wellness Within condemns the use of spit hoods and demands a ban. We have called for an end to the use of spit hoods since the death of Corey Roger died in a Halifax lockup cell in June of 2016; a death determined to be caused by suffocation while under a spit hood.

The warning on the TranZport hood, a commonly used spit hood, is clear: “Warning: Improper use of TranZport Hood can cause injury or death. Improper use may cause asphyxiation, suffocation or drowning in one’s own fluids.”

The ongoing inquest into the death of Soleiman Faqiri in custody in Ontario has also heard about the dangers of spit hood.

There is no tracking of the use of spit hoods in Canadian institutions. Spit hoods pose a serious threat to the wellbeing of those in custody. There is no evidence to justify their use as a means of infection control. Their use must be terminated immediately.

Spit hoods were banned in Australia following the death of an Indigenous man in 2016. Canada has seen time and time again the use of spit hoods resulting in harm and death. The need for action is long overdue.

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Wellness Within is a volunteer-based registered non-profit organization that serves women, transgender, and nonbinary people who have experienced criminalization and are pregnant or have young children in Nova Scotia, part of the unceded and unsurrendered ancestral territory of the Mi’kmaq people. 

Wellness Within supports people through the full spectrum of reproductive health experience; facilitates workshops and education sessions; develops resource materials; and advocates for reproductive justice issues.

Contact: Natasha Hines, Chair, 902-717-2956 or natasha_hines@outlook.com and Dr. Martha Paynter, Director of Research, 902-292-7082 or martha.paynter@gmail.com