Listening to crime victims: North Carolina restorative justice conference

by Lisa Rea

When crime victims speak about the effect violent crime has had on their lives you have to listen. On June 9th I moderated a crime victims roundtable during the 3rd Annual Restorative Justice Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina coordinated this year by Campbell University Law School. The roundtable called "Listening to Crime Victims: Their Journeys Toward Healing" was sponsored by the Journey of Hope: From Violence to Healing. The four victims of violence who told their stories were Bill Pelke, chair, Journey of Hope: From Violence to Healing (Alaska), Stephen Watt, Stephen Watt Ministries (Wyoming) , Bess Klassen-Landis, musician and teacher (Vermont), and Kim Book, executive director, Victims Voices Heard (Delaware). No matter how many crime victims panels I have moderated the stories are always riveting and often what I hear the victims say is new even when I am familiar with the stories. I learn something new as the victims move along in their lives---their own personal journeys.

Jul 25, 2011 Story, Practice, Victim, Correspondent:Lisa Rea, Mediation, Other, Case:Violence, Region: North America and Caribbean, Case:Sexual, Case:Homicide, Forgiveness, Country:USA

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Lisa Rea: Restorative Justice: Restoring Victims and Communities.

From the article by Lisa Rea and Theo Gavrielides: Victims-driven restorative justice is built on the premise that an offender needs to see the direct impact that his crime had on his victim and on the community, and should be given the opportunity to make amends and seek to provide a form of reparation to those he injured. Through the voluntary participation of both the victim and the offender engaged in an honest and constructive dialogue (i.e. mediation, family group conferencing, circles, etc.) facilitated by trained professionals, the participants benefit from the information exchange.

Jun 03, 2009 Mediation, Other, Victim, Correspondent:Lisa Rea

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