Velma Demerson

Who is Velma Demerson?

Velma Demerson is a Canadian who was imprisoned in the Province of Ontario for being in a relationship with a Chinese immigrant. Demerson, a caucasian woman was arrested at the home of her fiancé, Harry Yip by police acting on a tip from Demerson's parents who disapproved of their daughter's actions. Pregnant with Yip's baby, she was convicted of being "incorrigible" under an 1897 law the Female Refuges Act. It allowed the government to arrest and institutionalize women between the ages of 16 and 35 for behaviour such as promiscuity, pregnancy out of wedlock and public drunkenness. It was not repealed until 1964. Demerson was incarcerated at the Mercer Reformatory for Women in Toronto for a period of ten months.

While incarcerated she gave birth to her son, Harry Jr. who at three months was taken away from her until her release. She was also subjected to several involuntary medical procedures by a reformatory doctor, a leading eugenics practitioner searching for evidence of physical deficiencies contributing to the moral defectives of "unmanageable women."