What would you do if you met someone who had committed a crime against you? That is the challenging question at the heart of Restorative Justice Week 2014. The core aim of Restorative Justice Week is to raise awareness of the issue and highlight the contribution it can make to helping people rebuild their lives.
Restorative justice is all about opening up a dialogue between the victims of crime and those who have caused them harm. This provides an opportunity for offenders to face up to the consequences of their past actions, and for victims to obtain a sense of closure. Home Group’s care and support arm Stonham has a 40-year track record in criminal justice sector and is a proud supporter Restorative Justice Week 2014.
We provide a suite of support services related to criminal justice including the bail accommodation support service, which is funded by the Ministry of Justice. One of our most striking examples of our support services is the 4Women Service in Norwich, which provides a holistic hub of services for everything ranging from crisis intervention to counselling, abstinence support and health information sessions. It has salaried staff, as well as a dedicated army of volunteers. This service is one of only a handful of services left that is specifically designed for women and, as such, has a critical role to play.
The 4Women Resources Centre started life back in April 2011 and has helped more than 1,000 people since it opened. The service is partly funded by the police and crime commissioner and is available to all women who are 17 or over and in need of crisis support. Many of the women who come to us do so as a result of experiencing abuse. In this area of our work Restorative Justice can help people move on from their past, as part of their rehabilitation process.
One of our clients Mrs R has taken the bold step of arranging a meeting with her former victims. Mrs R has had a turbulent past, having been previously convicted of theft and sentenced to six months imprison. After serving four months of her sentence, she was let out on a tag in July of this year. She initially expressed an interest in meeting her former victims at a Restorative Justice Conference Home Group provided the venue for earlier in the year.
Commenting on her motivation for getting involved Mrs R said: “I want to be able to meet with my victims and try to explain why I did what I did. I would like them to be able to ask any questions they have and say sorry. “
This journey will be a very personal one for Mrs R as her victims were friends of her husband, who she has no contact with. He is still looking after their young daughter, who she has supervised contact with once a week.
For Mrs R this meeting will help her to draw a line under her past and build a more positive future. She described the significance of the meeting in the following way: “The meeting will be an opportunity to clear the air. My husband and his friends still meet regularly and I would like to think it will lessen the animosity between us, so that my daughter doesn’t grow up hearing negative things about me”.
Cases like this clearly illustrate the value and significance the prospect of meeting their former victims can have for ex-offenders. Restorative Justice Week provides a vivid reminder of the difference uniting victims of crime and those who have caused them harm can have in helping people rebuild their lives. We welcome the lead the Ministry of Justice have taken in raising awareness of this important issue and are pleased to be backing their campaign. Stonham will continue to actively work with its client to open up dialogue between victims and ex-offenders.
Rachael Byrne is executive director care and support at Home Group
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