Yellowknife (May 05/06) - A federal plan to raise the penalties for violent crimes could wind up doing more harm than good, the Northwest Territories Bar Association warned this week.

"It is not always the right solution to send someone to jail," said Yellowknife defence lawyer Terri Nguyen, an executive member of the bar association.

"Sometimes (convicts) rehabilitate better in the community," she said.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper outlined three separate bills earlier this month that would create minimum jail terms for certain violent crimes and eliminate the use of conditional sentences for drug and weapons offenses.

The changes could have a dramatic effect on the Northwest Territories, Nguyen said.

Judges would no longer be allowed to hand out conditional sentences - which include house arrest - for serious crimes. More convicts would likely wind up behind bars and away from their elders and families, robbing them of an important support system, Nguyen said.

But two Yellowknife women's groups welcomed the harsher penalties.

The Harper announcement came three weeks after a city man was handed a suspended sentence for a series of sex attacks against a seven-year-old girl.

The man, a 22-year-old with a mental impairment, will not face jail time if he obeys the conditions of the sentence.

"These guys are getting off. What message does that send?" asked Sharon Thomas, executive director of the NWT Status of Women Council.

"The message we're giving society is that these women don't matter."

Several groups have lobbied the government for years to crack down on violent criminals, especially given the rate of sexual assaults in the Northwest Territories, which is seven times the national average.

"Women are really at risk here," said Lyda Fuller, who works at the Yellowknife YWCA.

"With these lenient sentences... they think their safety is not being taken seriously."

Thomas said the government still needs to invest more money in educating men and women about the effects of violence and sexual assault.

"Long term, more programs will make the difference - not throwing more people in jail."

The bills will likely go before parliament this spring or summer, according to media reports.