Victim Support workers told to ignore political comments

From the article on 3news.co.nz:

Volunteers at a Victim Support conference this weekend were urged to ignore the "victims versus offenders" debate from politicians....

Director of Rethinking Crime and Punishment Kim Workman said this kind of "oppositional thinking" was counterproductive and unhelpful.

"We must reject any proposition that potentially divides us.

"Many of you work with both victims and offenders, in the areas of family violence, child abuse, restorative justice, and prisoner reintegration.

"Our success depends on our ability to work effectively within the justice system, across the board, in order to reduce victimisation."

Oct 23, 2009 Country:New Zealand, Practice, Victim

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Radical change

by Sandi Hawnt, a Sycamore Tree Project® facilitator writing in Inside Out, the newsletter of Prison Fellowship New Zealand:

When I shook his hand it was cold and sweaty. He was clearly nervous to meet me - much more than I was to meet him. I was impressed that he had waited for me. The others had all gone out for their allocated 'yard time'. Just one hour a day in Maxi - quite a lot to give up on the off chance that he might be included in the programme. Interviewing him was difficult - he was so desperate to be on the programme that he was almost paralysed with nerves. Every now and then he forgot what we were talking about and I became concerned that he might be unstable. As a new facilitator I did not want to have a safety risk on my hands, so I said no to him. However, this decision didn't sit right with me. I felt uneasy, sad... wrong.

Oct 12, 2009 Story, Region: Pacific, Panel Discussion, Country:New Zealand, Victim

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