This year, the Ministry of Justice, with support from the Restorative Justice Council, WhyMe? and the Chris Donovan Trust, are supporting International Restorative Justice Week (16 – 23 November) with a campaign called “What would you do?”.
The campaign is designed to encourage people to think about whether they would meet somebody who committed a crime against them by asking the question “What would you do?”.
Restorative Justice (RJ) is the process of bringing together those harmed by crime and those responsible for the harm. The aim is to repair the harm and find a positive way forward.
Gloucestershire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Martin Surl, who funds Restorative Gloucestershire as part of his Police and Crime Plan said,
“Evidence shows that RJ is effective in reducing crime, helping victims in a healing process, holding offenders to account and increasing their awareness of the harm they have caused. It is a theme running through my police and crime plan.”
Restorative Gloucestershire co-ordinator Becky Beard said,
“The essence of what we do enables offenders to acknowledge the harm they have done which not only enhances their chances of rehabilitation and, most important of all, is more satisfying for their victims.”
Some facts about RJ:
- RJ offers victims the chance to be heard, get answers to questions and provide a sense of closure.
- It forces offenders to face up to the impact of their behaviour and can reduce the frequency of reoffending by 14%.
- RJ is completely voluntary and only takes place if both the victim and offender consent and have been assessed as suitable by a trained RJ facilitator.
- A lot of preparatory work takes place before a victim and offender meet.
- The trained facilitator supports both the victim and offender before, during and after the RJ takes place and guides the dialogue between the victim and offender.
- 85% of victims that take part in RJ are satisfied with the process.
- More information is available via the Restorative Justice Council and local PCCs
To see how RJ works, click here http://www.restorativegloucestershire.co.uk/case-studies/
Here are some more examples: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1s6wKeGLQk;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14I0GtoLxTY
Restorative Gloucestershire is a group of statutory, non-statutory and voluntary sector partners which helps offenders make amends for their crimes.
