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“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 1
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“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”
Lewis B. Smedes
“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”
Mahatma Gandhi
“The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.”
Thomas S. Szasz
In this excerpt from Tributary Streams of a Healing River, Howard Zehr
talks about the continuum of restorativeness, shame, respect, honor,
humiliation, vindication, indigenous and social justice.
Tributary
Streams of a Healing River is an in depth study of restorative justice
with over 14 hrs of video on 10 DVDs. (available from Heartspeak
Productions -- www.heartspeakproductions.ca)
Speakers Bio:
Howard
Zehr joined the graduate Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP) at
Eastern Mennonite University in 1996 as Professor of Restorative
Justice. Prior to that he served for nineteen years as director of the
Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Office on Crime and Justice. He now
serves as Co-Director of CJP and Professor of Sociology and Restorative
Justice, Conflict Transformation Program. ouse College, Atlanta, GA in 1966.
Restorative Justice May Not Be Appropriate for Some Crimes
There has been an increased utilization
of the Restorative Justice process in cases of sexual assault/abuse and
domestic violence. Many who work with
sexual assault and domestic violence victims believe that sexual assault crimes
are incompatible with the restorative justice model in its current form. Because
95% of domestic violence is perpetrated by men against women, the term 'she'
will identify survivors of male violence and the term 'he' will identify
perpetrators/offenders throughout this document. Restorative justice refers to
victims; in this presentation, women who have encountered male violence will be
identified by the term 'survivor'.
The usual goals for a restorative
justice model to "repair the harm caused by the offense, and achieve a
sense of healing for the victim and the community." But for sexual assault
crimes, however, restorative justice is at cross purposes with its end. In its
current form, this program has the potential to seriously harm survivors who
participate in the process.
We are NOT in the business of forgiving sexual assault/abuse or domestic violence. We are in the business of STOPPING it. Seeking an apology for this type of violence is NOT an appropriate societal goal. Adopting zero tolerance for sexual assault/abuse domestic violence is. Furthermore, forgiveness is NOT essential in a survivor's healing process and, if a survivor is pressured or guilted into forgiving a perpetrator prematurely, it can sabotage her healing process.
Restorative justice claims to be victim-centered. Yet, to our knowledge, input from survivors of sexual or domestic violence was not solicited and considered in the design of these new measures. Under these new measures, if a survivor does not want her case to go to restorative justice, this may happen anyway. The survivor does not have a veto as to whether her case will proceed to a restorative justice program. In our view, the lack of consultation and current policy displaces the survivor to a position peripheral, not central, to the process of defining harm and how it might be repaired. In our view, restorative justice appears to focus on the perpetrator, not the victim. He repents for his crime and justice is restored. How can justice be restored for a survivor of sexual assault who has chosen not to participate in the restorative process?
Sexual assault survivors need to talk about their feelings, need to reclaim their power, and need to have their pain and suffering validated. The terror, humiliation and stigma that result from sexual assault, make this a long, difficult and painful process. Usually, this type of healing only occurs within the context of a safe, trusting relationship. It is unrealistic to think that a survivor will discuss what justice has casually identified as "concerns and feelings" with a perpetrator of sexual assault. It is unrealistic and dangerous to think healing will take place as a result of a such a meeting between a perpetrator and the survivor. Survivor/perpetrator interactions that have successful therapeutic outcomes usually result only when there has been intensive, long-term preparation and a bastion of support for the survivor. Given the limited resources of our communities and the department of justice, this preparation and support is not likely to be available.
If a sexual assault survivor becomes emotionally and psychologically tied to a perpetrator's recognition of the pain and suffering they caused or, an apology or repentance for the act, her capacity to heal becomes incumbent on the perpetrators decision to apologize or repent, and the quality of this apology. This emotional entanglement gives power back to the perpetrator, not the survivor. Therapists work with sexual assault survivors to free them from any need for offender repentance or apology so they may reclaim their sense of empowerment independent of anything the perpetrator says or does. If, however, a survivor agrees to listen to an offender's account of his understanding of the harm inflicted on her, what happens if she is not satisfied with the account? Who evaluates this? What happens then?
Reintegration of the offender into the community
a) In our experience with women who have experienced crimes of sexual
violence, the reintegration of sexual assault offenders into the
community creates fear of re-victimization, not healing, for the
survivor. A survivor's sense of safety is so deeply compromised after
sexual assault they often feel too fearful to go outside, take buses, or
walk alone during the day, or at night, even when the perpetrator has
been incarcerated. Knowledge that the perpetrator is at large is usually
a frightening, re-victimizing experience.
b) To involve a sexual assault survivor in a process intent on
preserving the offender's integrity, and reintegrating him into the
community, places responsibility on the survivor to support the
perpetrator's healing. Allocating even minimal responsibility to the
survivor for offender healing can all too easily become fodder for the
current myth that women survivors of violence are somehow responsible
for the crimes committed against them.
c) Finally, given recidivism rates for youth and adult crime, it seems
clear that community reintegration is usually successful only if there
is sustained support and intervention for offenders. We have not seen an allocation of resources to this end. How much money will be made available, and to whom?
Recommendations:
1) Recognize the incompatibility of sexual assault/abuse domestic
violence crimes with restorative justice in its current form and
eliminate access to this forum by offenders of same.
2) Slow the implementation of restorative justice until stakeholders are able to thoroughly review this process.
3) Conduct the necessary research (consult with survivors and
community based agencies whose mandates address women and
sexual/domestic violence issues) to determine if survivors of sexual and
domestic violence will be satisfied with this process in its current
form.
4) Place a hold on restorative justice for sexual assault/abuse
domestic violence cases until research has been completed that supports
your statements that victim satisfaction will increase as a result of
this process.
5) Create clear, specific guidelines and an infrastructure to
monitor the expanded discretionary powers of the police, crown, and
corrections. Commit financially to this sustained monitoring.
6) Recognize the need for and commit to the education and
training of all parties (police, crown, corrections, community agencies)
around sexual assault/abuse domestic violence issues. Commit
financially to this education and training.
7) Create access to due process for victim, community agency, offender complaints.
Medical Whistleblower Advocacy Network
MEDICAL WHISTLEBLOWER ADVOCACY NETWORK
P.O. 42700
Washington, DC 20015
MedicalWhistleblowers (at) gmail.com
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Educational Materials from Medical Whistleblower
Medical Whistleblower Canary Brochures
Advice to Medical Whistleblowers
Advice to Whistleblower Supporters
The Spiritual Side of Whistleblowing
Your Problem Solving Personality
PTSD - Emotional and Psychological Symptoms
Effects of Whistleblower Retaliation
Behind the Blue Line - Law Enforcement Whistleblowers
Medical Whistleblower Canary Notes
Bridging the Gap - Communicating Across Disciplines
Martin Luther King Jr. , Title 42 and 1983
White Collar Crime and Criminal Intelligence
United Nations Declaration of Human Rights
"Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself." Confucius
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
Theodore
Roosevelt- Excerpt from the speech "Citizenship In A Republic",
delivered at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France on 23 April, 1910