Sexual Violence and Abuse

Few crimes have more power to produce profound injury to victims or outrage and fear in communities than sexual violence. These articles and resources address the use of restorative justice with sexual violence and abuse victims and perpetrators.

An Outcome Evaluation of Minnesota Circles of Support and Accountability (MnCoSA)

from the study by the Minnesota Department of Corrections: ....The use of the COSA model with high-risk sex offenders began in a small Mennonite community in Canada in the early 1990s. Grounded in the tenets of the restorative justice philosophy, the COSA model attempts to help sex offenders successfully reenter the community and, thus, increase public safety, by providing them with social support as they try to meet their employment, housing, treatment, and other social needs. Each COSA consists of anywhere between four and six community volunteers, one of whom is a primary volunteer, who meet with the offender on a regular basis. The results from several evaluations of the Canadian COSA model suggest it significantly reduces sex offender recidivism....

More meditations on restorative justice

from the entry by kario on The Writing Life: ….It wasn't until I saw my molester as a human being that I began to heal my own profound wounds. I spent years in therapy, took lots of different anti-anxiety medications and antidepressants, started yoga, and came to a better place, but the REAL freedom from pain came when I forgave him. Not in person (I don't honestly even know if he is alive today), but in my heart. That doesn't mean that I don't still feel the impact of his behavior in my life and it doesn't mean I would have the courage to meet him face-to-face if I had the opportunity, although I hope I would. It means that I acknowledge that he made a big mistake and, as a human being, he was entitled to do that. It doesn't mean that he is absolved of any wrongdoing, especially since I suspect he molested lots of other children as well, but it means that I don't feel as though I can pass judgment on him and his life. I certainly don't believe he deserves to be killed for his actions, although I did for many, many years.

Rape

One personally perceived flaw with mandatory restorative justice is that not all offenders (especially rapists pertaining to the power/anger based motivations of rape) would be [...]

Christina

I’m sorry for your pain Christina, may you find strength to overcome.

Power of One: Restorative justice couples victims with offenders

from the article on CTV.ca: ....A woman named Marité has been taking part in the process, not by facing her sexually-abusive father, but rather, another man who committed similar acts. She said that results have helped her cope with the damage she suffered. "For him it was like I was his daughter," said Marité. "And I was able also to express my anger to him and that's what he wanted rather than silence from his daughter." "I can now go forward because I'm not bound to my father anymore. I can leave him go."

NCHERM-CR announces summit on the application of restorative justice practices to cases of campus sexual misconduct

from the press release of the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management The NCHERM-CR, the Conflict Resolution Practice Group of The National Center for Higher Education Risk Management ( www.ncherm.org ), will be hosting a two-day invitational Summit on the use of restorative justice practices in student-on-student sexual misconduct cases. This Summit is being convened to explore ways in which forms of conflict resolution, and especially restorative justice practices, may be utilized lawfully, productively and beneficially to improve on the traditional approaches used in student disciplinary proceedings.

A chance to heal unholy wounds

from Bronwyn Pike's article in the National Times: For many years, religious organisations have grappled with the need to improve the ways they deal with abusive behaviour by their own clergy. In my previous role as director of social justice in the Uniting Church during the 1990s, I worked with my colleagues to develop sexual abuse complaints procedures. In that task I gained an appreciation of just how challenging and complex this issue can be.

accountability

I am curious about what the circles will be holding the person accountable for. Is it their past actions,their current life, whereabouts or what? [...]

Circles for sex offenders first in the South

from the article by Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan in the Herald-Sun: Durham is starting the first Circles of Safety and Accountability in the South for sex offenders getting out of prison. COSA will match recently released sex offenders in Durham with a circle of people who will meet with them weekly to hold them accountable and support them in re-entering the community. Durham County is home to about 300 convicted sex offenders.

Review: A community-based approach to the reduction of sexual re-offending: circles of support and accountability

by Martin Wright Often sex offenders are isolated people who have difficulty making relationships, and when they come out of prison the double stigma of prison and the nature of their offence isolates them still more – an extra hardship for them, and an increased risk that they will revert to their previous behaviour. So the idea of forming a circle of support for them is both humane and a safeguard. It does not fall under the usual definition of restorative justice, because it does not include dialogue with the victim, which would in many cases be unwanted and/or inappropriate. It does however restore or even improve the situation of the offender, and it involves members of the community.

Was my father a monster ???

 My father Robert Power, whom I have only exchanged about 10-15 letters with since I found out who the man that I spent my whole [...]

serious crimes & victims rights

Thank you for posting this importnat opinion piece. Through the words of victims (survivors) of violent crime we learn how valuable restorative justice is to [...]

Restorative justice in a case of serious sexual assault

from the article by Claire Chung for Restorative Justice Week 2011: ....I was raped twice, at knifepoint, by a man who had been released from prison, just 24 hours earlier. I was his 27th victim. I reported the crime immediately. He had walked off abruptly in the middle of the attack and I was sure of 2 things: he had done this before and he would do it again. I was believed and the rapist was caught, sentenced and returned to prison. Justice was done. Since the assailant pled “guilty” he was allowed a third off his tariff and the Judge, “to spare me any further distress”, proceeded quickly to his decision. Although I was in court, nobody looked at me and nobody heard me.

Reply

Again, I must say that I agree 100% with crime victims turning to restorative justice means. With restorative Justice they can have face-toface interactions with [...]

Restoring the Victim-Offender Relationship

I agree with the previous comment and believe that crime victims turning to restorative justice is important for many reasons. One being that it takes [...]

response

I believe that restorative justice is a great option for victims to get closure on parts of their lives that have been impacted by events [...]

Crime victims turning to restorative justice

from the article by Frazer Maude on Sky News: ...[F]or an increasing number of victims, restorative justice has helped them move on with their lives in a way they never thought possible. Joanne Nodding is one such victim. She told Sky News how she feared for her life when she was raped almost 10 years ago, and how even seeing her attacker being sentenced to life did little to help her achieve closure.

Healing Circle DVD

Dear Peter, The information for ordering the DVD is available at http://www.healingcirclegroup.com/order.php. You will need to email their contact to see if it is available [...]

DVD

Hi, I am interested in purchasing a copy of your DVD "The Healing "Circle". Is is available in European format? Please advise, Best wishes, Peter [...]

Is restorative justice suited for gender-based violence?

from Sylvia Clute's article on Genuine Justice: Feminists have long decried the deficiencies in the traditional criminal law system when it comes to gender-based violence. The criminal law system fails victims, offenders and the community; there are no winners. Most cases are never reported, and the reported cases have a high attrition rate. Few cases are actually prosecuted. According to Melanie Randall, a law professor with expertise in legal remedies for gender violence, the needs of the victim are diametrically opposed to the needs of the criminal law system. That system is driven by complex rules; it challenges the victim’s credibility; she has no control; she must tell the state’s story instead of a coherent narrative around what happened to her. There is no protection against recall, and there is no safe face to face confrontation.