Sónia first started her professional path as a volunteer for the Victim Support Association in Portugal (APAV), as a victim supporter (legal advisor). She has also worked as an interviewer in “studies in crime prevention and urban victimization”,  and as a trainer.  Sónia served as a junior expert of the Dikê Project (Protection and Promotion of Victims’ Rights under the Framework- Decision regarding the Standing of Victims within the Criminal Proceedings) where she gained a European overview concerning the role of victims within the criminal justice system and that contemplate restorative justice practices.

The EFS – Cost Action A21: Restorative Justice Developments in Europe was the next step in Sónia’s research journey. She is a member of the 3rd Working Group of the Action on Theoretical Research. She also joined the newly formed 4th Working Group on Restorative Justice, Violent Conflicts and Mass Victimization. Sónia focuses her ongoing research for a Master Thesis in Forensic Sciences on the participatory element of Restorative Justice.

As a part of her efforts to promote restorative justice in Portugal, Sónia is on the  the Board of Directors of the Association for Conflict Mediators (Portugal). Through this organization, she promotes restorative justice through conferences and training workshops. To reach the general public, she also created a blogspot on Restorative Justice.

Sónia is an associate of the European Forum for Restorative Justice and an international associate of IDCB – Institute of Comparative and International Law of Brasília.

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As a criminal lawyer, I often felt that, even when the party I represented “won”, nobody did in fact really win at all.

Curiously, the same feeling occurred to me when I was representing either victims or offenders and in several different types of crimes.

The participatory solution that restorative practices provide seems to be the road to take towards a humanised criminal justice system that should be able to accept and make use of the self-regulatory capacity of individuals and communities.

- Sónia Sousa Pereira

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Sónia Sousa Pereira envisions a main goal ahead as intertwining research of social sciences as a way to strengthen theory and develop the restorative justice’s virtues.

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Reach Sónia Sousa Pereira at soniasousapereira@gmail.com