Panel Sessions

Gemma Frazer
Gemma Fraser is an Improvement Lead in Community Justice Scotland and Policy Lead for Restorative Justice there. She is author of the Restorative Justice Action Plan which aims to deliver a restorative justice provision across Scotland by 2023. Gemma has worked for over 15 years in the delivery of strategic and operational planning and improvement projects across justice, safety and community planning partnerships. Her passion for restorative justice began when experiencing the benefits of this to local communities in address conflict, and has grown to include representing Scotland as part of the international RJ for Change programme and presentations in this field across the world.
Gemma believes that the addition of credible, voluntary restorative justice and restorative approaches for people who have experienced harm of a domestic and/or sexual nature supports increased choice for people, and improves their ability to access meaningful justice from the system. She is passionate about ensuring the voice of those who experience harm remains at the centre of justice processes, their design and delivery.

Gemma lives in Fife with her 7 year old son and spends her time listening to music, reading, watching football and pretending she is good at Playstation. She is available on Twitter @ComJusScot_Gem


Estelle Zinsstag
Estelle Zinsstag (MSc, PhD) is currently a lecturer in criminology at the school of applied sciences at Edinburgh Napier University (UK). She is also a research associate at the Centre for Criminology (University of Oxford, UK) after having been its departmental lecturer in criminology in 2019-2020. In addition, she is a senior researcher at the Leuven Institute of Criminology (University of Leuven, Belgium). There she has for example coordinated and was principal investigator on 2 European Commission grants, the first one an action grant on conferencing and restorative justice (for the European Forum for Restorative Justice) and the second one a Daphne grant on sexual violence and the possibilities of restorative justice (for the Leuven Institute of Criminology, KU Leuven).
She is a founding member and a co-chief editor of 'The International Journal of Restorative Justice’ and of the book series 'Studies in Restorative Justice’ both published by Eleven International Publishing (The Netherlands). She is co-chair of both the 'Scottish Network of Restorative Justice Researchers' and the European Society of Criminology restorative justice working group. She is a member of the stakeholder group advising Scottish Government on the development of RJ in Scotland. She publishes mainly in the fields of sexual and gendered violence, restorative and transitional justice. Most recently she edited a book with Dr Marie Keenan (University College Dublin) on Restorative responses to sexual violence for Routledge (2017) and is currently working on 2 further books on related topics.

Pam Hunter
I am Pam Hunter, CEO of SAY Women. I’ve been with this fabulous charity for nearly 3 years now and loving every minute of it. I have worked in the voluntary sector since 2008 in both Northern Ireland and Scotland. I'm a mad sports fan and season ticket holder for Glasgow Warriors. I’m also on the board of Neighbourhood Networks another amazing charity.

My view of restorative justice is that it has its place in small crimes but with sexual abuse there is too much power imbalance that it has the potential to be very harmful for the survivors. So in that case my view would be that it would be inappropriate. I welcome the opportunity for our service users to be heard but will introduce the consultation with caution and support as the impact even the question could have on someone's recovery could be enormous.

Steve Kirkwood
Dr Steve Kirkwood is originally from Wellington, Aotearoa / New Zealand and is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He has undertaken research on restorative justice in Scotland, and trained and practiced as a volunteer restorative justice facilitator within diversion from persecution services in Scotland. He co-founded and co-chairs the Scottish Restorative Justice Research Network and is an active member of the Restorative Justice Forum (Scotland). He has undertaken research on a range of topics broadly related to justice, identity and citizenship, and has published widely in journals covering psychology, criminology and social work.
I don’t have an ‘official’ stance on RJ for survivors of sexual and domestic abuse. My current view, based on a review of existing evidence and my understanding of current debates, is that restorative justice is a process that some survivors of sexual offences or domestic abuse wish to use, and that in cases where it has been used survivors tend to find it helpful. However, there can be particular challenges for using restorative justice in relation to sexual offences and domestic abuse, especially relating to complex power dynamics, safety issues, and the nature of trauma, meaning that RJ facilitators in such cases require specialist knowledge and skills.

Wendy
I’m Wendy, a wife and a mum to two sons. I enjoy cooking, reading and going long walks with my lovely Labrador and confidant, Jett. I graduated with a first class degree in Criminology & Criminal Justice in 2017, two weeks after my youngest was born, then took a year out. I’ve since commenced employment within the emergency services and act as an Advisory Board Member for an organisation supporting survivors of sexual violence. I’d say that my views on Restorative Justice encompass a number of stances. As a victim - I was raped when I was 14; as a researcher - I immersed myself in a degree that exacerbated my understanding of the Criminal Justice system in Scotland and further afield; in my current field of work and as a survivor with a voice that I want to be heard.
For me, the importance of victims & survivors being included in the consultation is insurmountable. We’ve had our choice taken away already, let us take back that control and be heard. There’s so much work to be done and I believe that work initiated by Survivors Voices will challenge the status quo, instigating a positive change and what better way to do it than to include the voice of those that matter. I’m excited to be standing alongside Survivors Voices and feel empowered to be assisting in something so remarkable.