Features other press November 13, 2002 Dark Past Comes to Light n Ontario woman reveals history of abuse isha Grebinski e Carillon REGINA (CUP)—Velma Demerson was a criminal. She was 18, pregnant and in love with a Chinese-Canadian man. One morning in 1939, their breakfast ended abruptly as Demerson’s father stormed in with police to have her arrested for being ‘incorrigible.’ Pregnancy before mar- riage was an embarrassment to the family and the taboo of an interracial relationship was very strong. Under the 1897 Female Refugees Act, Demerson was sentenced to one year at a Toronto institution for unmanageable women. The act forced women between the ages of 15 and 35 to be imprisoned for public drunk- enness, promiscuous behaviour or pregnancy out-of- wedlock. At the time, the Chinese Exclusion Act was also in effect, creating an even bigger conflict for Demerson and her fiancé. The Chinese Exclusion Act limited the num- ber of Chinese immigrants in North America. It also included restrictions against white women working in Chinese establishments. Simply put, the government did not want white peo- ple—especially women—associating with Chinese immi- grants and, essentially, they did not want any more Chinese babies. Demerson was sent to the Belmont Home, a Protestant church-run institution with over 40 girls. Part of their punishment was working long, strenuous hours in a laundry facility without pay. As Demerson recalls, the Protestant women ran the institution the best they could, considering finances were scarce. “We slept in dorms and the food wasn’t bad,” she says. “It was when we were transferred to the Mercer . Reformatory that it was really bad.” After spending six weeks in the Belmont Home, Demerson was transferred to Mercer. She was secretly escorted in a private car, with no idea where she was going. “At the time, we were secretly transferred. We were alarmed—girls were disappearing and we didn’t know why. Gradually it became our turn,” she recalls. “They didn’t even tell our parents they were transferring us.” Many women were also sent to the reformatory on the suspicion of having a venereal disease. Doctors could claim women had sexually transmitted diseases and send them to an institution without any proof. It was an easy way for society to lock up girls who were “frivolous, sin- ful and feeble-minded.” When Demerson arrived at the reformatory, she was placed in a seven by four foot cell with bars and no win- dows. Inmates were restricted to speaking for only an hour a day: half an hour after lunch and half an hour after supper. Their laundry work continued at the reformatory. But, unlike at the Belmont Home, they were paid six cents a day for their labour. Demerson gave birth to her first son while at the refor- matory. “They sent us out to give birth and I was eight- een hours in labour,” she says. “I was alone in a room and my mother never came to see me.” After the birth, Demerson was told she would be going back to the reformatory. It was at that point that she decided to escape. Wearing only a bed sheet, Demerson ran away to search for her fiancé. When she could not find him, she went to her mother’s, who returned her to the reforma- tory immediately. Demerson would have been aggres- sively punished for running away from the institution, but word got out that she was treated worse than the rest of the girls. As a result, they let her punishment drop. Demerson says that she and another pregnant woman were treated in an “abusive and invasive” manner. “It was known that my baby was Chinese and the other girl’s had a hearing defect. It was during that period—the eugenics period—and the doctor belonged to a eugenics organization. There was a good reason to believe that we two were treated worse.” In the 1930s, the eugenics movement popularised the idea of breeding better human beings by eliminating those with supposedly ‘bad’ genes. Demerson says that is why she has reason to believe there was damage done to her and her child. After ten months in the institution, Demerson was released 30 days early with the Queen’s permission dur- ing her visit to Canada. She then married the father of her child. The 1897 Female Refugees Act was not repealed until 1964. Like Demerson, many people were appalled that women continued to be sentenced into the 1960s. More than 60 years have passed since her imprison- ment and Demerson has not forgotten the experience. She is suing the Ontario government for $11 million and is demanding an apology for her suffering. However, a recent Supreme Court Ruling states the province cannot be sued for incidents taking place prior to 1964. Now, she fears she will not be able to tell her case in court. The only thing she can do, she says, is wait and see. According to Demerson, the fact that people are able to talk openly about her case proves Canada has progressed. However, she says, many still do not understand the past. “T think that women do not know their history,” she says. “If you know what happened before, you can follow the threads of history, right until the present time, and you can know why there's violence against women today. It’s because of the legislation passed years ago. It stays. It’s like racism and the acts against the Chinese—there is still racism today.” page 17 © meee’