Ailsa M. Watkinson

Biography

Ailsa M. Watkinson received her Ph.D. in educational administration from the University of Saskatchewan in 1992. Her research was on the Courts' interpretation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the possible consequences of their interpretation on social policy and the decision-making role of administrators. Ailsa is co-editor, along with two other University of Regina scholars, of a book entitled Contesting Fundamentalisms. She has co-edited two other books and is the author of Education, Student Rights and the Charter. Ailsa’s academic interests are in the area of human rights. She has published a number of journal articles which focus on child sexual abuse, corporal punishment, sexual harassment, employment equity, the Charter as policy advocate, religion and public services, globalization, women prisoners and the administration of equality rights. Ailsa is a Board Member of the Saskatoon Sexual Assault and Information Centre. She was a long time Board Member of the Saskatchewan Elizabeth Fry Society and was the President of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) for five years (2002-2007). Ailsa was instrumental in instigating a systemic human rights investigation filed with the Canadian Human Rights Commission into the treatment of women prisoners. The final reports, Protecting their rights: A systematic human rights investigation of human rights in correctional services for federally sentenced women can be found at http://www.chrc-ccdp.ca and at http://www.elizabethfry.ca.

Research Interest

Human rights including women and children's rights, fundamental freedoms, prisoner rights, anti oppressive praxis, globalization and Policy analysis.