Dr. Jessica Evans

Dr. Jessica Evans is a community engaged scholar whose research examines the causes, conditions, and consequences of incarceration in Canada, framed through anti-racist, decolonial, abolitionist and critical political economic theories. Dr. Evans holds a PhD from York University's Department of Political Science, supported by the SSHRC Joseph-Armond Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship.

Dr. Evans is currently the Co-PI on a SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant along with Dr. Mandi Gray (Trent University) and Community Just Initiatives, exploring the perspectives of frontline workers in the gender-based violence sector on Ontario’s moratorium on restorative justice in cases of sexual harm. Her previous research includes a SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant which, in collaboration with Prisoner HIV/AIDS Support Action Network, explored the impact of COVID-19 on incarcerated persons throughout Ontario. This research has been published in recent issues of Punishment and Society, and the Canadian Journal of Law and Society. 

Dr. Evans' previous work has been published widely, including in peer reviewed journals such as Citizenship Studies, the Canadian Journal of Disability Studies, and Punishment and Society. She has also written numerous op-eds for outlets such as The Conversation and Spring Magazine and has conducted numerous media interviews on issues relating the rights and needs of incarcerated persons. She is a co-founder of the Toronto Prisoners' Rights Project, a member of the Abolition Coalition and is certified through Walls to Bridges.