Survivors Voices National Consultation 2021
Introduction to the Consultation:
The Scottish Government have committed to have restorative justice (RJ) services widely available across Scotland by 2023, with the interests of victims[1] being at the heart of these services. The vision statement set out by the Scottish government is that:
Restorative Justice is available across Scotland to all those who wish to access it, and at a time that is appropriate to the people involved in the case. Approaches taken are consistent, evidence-led, trauma informed and of a high standard. This seeks to ensure the needs of persons harmed and their voices are central, and supports a reduction in harmful behaviour across our communities.[2]
The Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Humza Yousaf MSP, outlined in his ministerial foreword to the Scottish Government’s Restorative Justice Action Plan[3] that ‘There is sound evidence that RJ can empower and provide redress not only to those impacted directly by the harmful behaviour, but also to wider communities. It also encourages those who have done the harm to consider the impact of their actions at a human level, and so help reduce the chance of repeating the behaviour.’
This national consultation exercise, being facilitated by Thriving Survivors[4], will specifically seek the views and opinions of survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence on RJ in Scotland, as at present there is no option in Scotland for survivors of these types of crimes to engage with RJ services. Broadly, the consultation is looking to gather information on currently unanswered questions such as: What do survivors know about RJ? Would survivors use RJ? If survivors could access RJ, what would they need from such a service? The outcome from delivery of this consultation will be to ensure that the voices of survivors are heard, and we will feed these voices directly into the Scottish Government’s Restorative Justice Action Plan through a report written at the conclusion of the consultation.
Background / Contextual Information:
Before answering the questions, we would recommend reading the information in this section and engaging with the videos and other information provided at the links you can go to, as all of this information will aid your understanding of RJ in general, and in Scotland specifically.
RJ is a voluntary process which offers safe and structured communication between a person who has been harmed and a person who is responsible for the harm, in an attempt to address the impact of the harm that was caused. The process will involve facilitators completing a number of preparation meetings that involves on-going risk assessment and will only take place if both parties agree and it’s safe to proceed. The communication can take on a variety of formats, including face to face meetings, online meetings, letters that don’t require in-person meeting, statements, or audio messages. The process can be terminated by any participant, at any point. The process aims to offer an additional form of justice for the person harmed.
Feedback from one survivor, whose identity is kept anonymous, that took part in RJ where it was available in a different country outside of Scotland said that:
I wanted him to be accountable to me – not to a judge, not to the police not to prison officers, but to me…I heard about a process called Restorative Justice and asked if it was something I could be involved with. I felt it would help me come to terms with what had happened and answer my questions
Taking part in Restorative Justice was the key that unlocked the door to my future.
For more detailed information on what RJ is, please watch this video from Hampshire Police & Crime Commissioner and / or read this information on RJ from Community Justice Scotland, which summarises and contextualises what RJ is, may help with contextualising the RJ process.
To gain an understanding of what RJ can look like in practice, please watch this short video produced by Why me?[5] and the Restorative Justice Council[6]. In this video, the roles are performed by actors, but the scenario being played out stems from a real case which was transcribed, and each actor being fed the actual words spoken by each of the participants from the real RJ session. A full version of the session is also available if you would like to view this.
There are a number of misperceptions and myths surrounding RJ in general, and surrounding RJ specific to survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence in particular. Survivors Voices have compiled a list of ten such myths and an explanation of the reality of each, spoken to by Ailbhe Griffith, a survivor of serious sexual assault. Videos for all ten of these are available at the Survivors Voices YouTube channel, and links to three of the ones most relevant to survivors are listed below:
Misperception / Myth 1:
RJ must involve forgiveness (from the victim / survivor) and an apology from the perpetrator
Misperception / Myth 4:
RJ is not safe and will re-traumatise the victim by the (perpetrator’s) words or actions
Misperception / Myth 5:
RJ is about rehabilitation (of the perpetrator)
Introduction to the Consultation:
The Scottish Government have committed to have restorative justice (RJ) services widely available across Scotland by 2023, with the interests of victims[1] being at the heart of these services. The vision statement set out by the Scottish government is that:
Restorative Justice is available across Scotland to all those who wish to access it, and at a time that is appropriate to the people involved in the case. Approaches taken are consistent, evidence-led, trauma informed and of a high standard. This seeks to ensure the needs of persons harmed and their voices are central, and supports a reduction in harmful behaviour across our communities.[2]
The Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Humza Yousaf MSP, outlined in his ministerial foreword to the Scottish Government’s Restorative Justice Action Plan[3] that ‘There is sound evidence that RJ can empower and provide redress not only to those impacted directly by the harmful behaviour, but also to wider communities. It also encourages those who have done the harm to consider the impact of their actions at a human level, and so help reduce the chance of repeating the behaviour.’
This national consultation exercise, being facilitated by Thriving Survivors[4], will specifically seek the views and opinions of survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence on RJ in Scotland, as at present there is no option in Scotland for survivors of these types of crimes to engage with RJ services. Broadly, the consultation is looking to gather information on currently unanswered questions such as: What do survivors know about RJ? Would survivors use RJ? If survivors could access RJ, what would they need from such a service? The outcome from delivery of this consultation will be to ensure that the voices of survivors are heard, and we will feed these voices directly into the Scottish Government’s Restorative Justice Action Plan through a report written at the conclusion of the consultation.
Background / Contextual Information:
Before answering the questions, we would recommend reading the information in this section and engaging with the videos and other information provided at the links you can go to, as all of this information will aid your understanding of RJ in general, and in Scotland specifically.
RJ is a voluntary process which offers safe and structured communication between a person who has been harmed and a person who is responsible for the harm, in an attempt to address the impact of the harm that was caused. The process will involve facilitators completing a number of preparation meetings that involves on-going risk assessment and will only take place if both parties agree and it’s safe to proceed. The communication can take on a variety of formats, including face to face meetings, online meetings, letters that don’t require in-person meeting, statements, or audio messages. The process can be terminated by any participant, at any point. The process aims to offer an additional form of justice for the person harmed.
Feedback from one survivor, whose identity is kept anonymous, that took part in RJ where it was available in a different country outside of Scotland said that:
I wanted him to be accountable to me – not to a judge, not to the police not to prison officers, but to me…I heard about a process called Restorative Justice and asked if it was something I could be involved with. I felt it would help me come to terms with what had happened and answer my questions
Taking part in Restorative Justice was the key that unlocked the door to my future.
For more detailed information on what RJ is, please watch this video from Hampshire Police & Crime Commissioner and / or read this information on RJ from Community Justice Scotland, which summarises and contextualises what RJ is, may help with contextualising the RJ process.
To gain an understanding of what RJ can look like in practice, please watch this short video produced by Why me?[5] and the Restorative Justice Council[6]. In this video, the roles are performed by actors, but the scenario being played out stems from a real case which was transcribed, and each actor being fed the actual words spoken by each of the participants from the real RJ session. A full version of the session is also available if you would like to view this.
There are a number of misperceptions and myths surrounding RJ in general, and surrounding RJ specific to survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence in particular. Survivors Voices have compiled a list of ten such myths and an explanation of the reality of each, spoken to by Ailbhe Griffith, a survivor of serious sexual assault. Videos for all ten of these are available at the Survivors Voices YouTube channel, and links to three of the ones most relevant to survivors are listed below:
Misperception / Myth 1:
RJ must involve forgiveness (from the victim / survivor) and an apology from the perpetrator
Misperception / Myth 4:
RJ is not safe and will re-traumatise the victim by the (perpetrator’s) words or actions
Misperception / Myth 5:
RJ is about rehabilitation (of the perpetrator)
