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The Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women was the first women's (16 years of age or older) prison in Canada. At various times, the facility was also known as the Mercer Complex, Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Females, and Andrew Mercer Ontario Reformatory for Females.〔(Ontario Archives )〕 ==History== Located on King Street West in Toronto, Ontario, it opened in 1872 with the idealistic promise of a "homelike" atmosphere for its inmates. One of the major tenets of the reformatory was to instill feminine Victorian virtues such as obedience and servility. Work, such as cooking, baking, and cleaning were also a major part of prison life. According to one superintendent of the reformatory, "of all wretched women the idle are the most wretched. We try to impress upon them the importance of labour, and we look upon this as one of the great means of their reformation."〔McCord Museum (The Mercer Reformatory for Women )〕 By 1965 three institutions made up what was then referred to as the Mercer Complex: the Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women in Toronto, the Ontario Women's Guidance Centre, and the Ontario Women's Treatment Centre, both in Brampton at what would become the Vanier Centre for Women in 1970. The Treatment Centre, originally part of the reformatory in Toronto, was set up in 1955 for the treatment of alcoholism, drug addiction and psychiatric disorders. It was relocated to Brampton in 1963 and named the Ontario Women's Treatment Centre, also to become part of the Vanier Centre for Women. The Ontario Women's Guidance Centre opened in 1959 at the same site and concentrated on academic and vocational training.〔 Under the Ontario Female Refuges Act, 1893-1964, any person, including any parent or guardian, could bring before a judge any female under the age of twenty-one years who were deemed unmanageable or incorrigible by the adult person, so that the judge could decide the female's fate. At times the Mercer Reformatory also housed female offenders under age sixteen in a separate part of the building. These separate areas were distinctly known as the Industrial Refuge for Girls from 1880 to 1905 and the Ontario Training School for Girls from 1952 to 1960. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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