Victim Support chief addresses restorative justice conference
Feb 17, 2011
from the organization's website:
Victim Support describes itself as "the independent charity for victims and witnesses of crime in England and Wales. We were set up 35 years ago and have grown to become the oldest and largest victims' organisation in the world. Every year, we contact over 1.5 million people after a crime to offer our help."
Speaking at the Restorative Justice Approaches conference on Thursday 27 January, Javed [Khan] said: “We have for many years supported restorative justice projects up and down the country. We know that one of the greatest benefits of restorative justice is to victims of crime and that satisfaction rates among victims are particularly high when it is victim led.”
Welcoming the government’s commitments to restorative justice he added: “I want to make sure that these are more than just warm words and that restorative justice becomes a right for every victim who wants it.”
....He went on to stress the need for restorative justice to be victim led saying: “Victims should not be pressured to take part in ‘out of court’ restorative justice as a cost or time saving measure. One of the cornerstones of restorative justice is its voluntary nature and we should be very careful to keep this as a central pillar of the process.
“Some people just don’t want to participate in restorative justice, and for good reason. They may fear being in the same room as the offender, and feel that the experience would be tantamount to relieving the crime.
“But for those that do want to take part in this process, it is essential that we can guarantee that each victim will be made a strong offer of restorative justice that fits their needs.”
victims support restorative justice
The long history of this organization in England and Wales shows us that restorative justice is not new. But what perhaps is new is that there is a steady increase in the number of crime victims asking for restorative justice. That news is indeed good news.
Lisa Rea
U.S.