Restorative justice received widespread coverage yesterday when BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour featured a powerful interview with Emma, a rape survivor who met her attacker in a restorative justice conference.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is running a campaign themed ‘I’ve got something to say’ to mark this year’s International Restorative Justice Week (15-22 November).
The campaign seeks to increase general awareness and understanding of restorative justice and emphasise the benefits for victims.
The theme highlights how restorative justice can help empower victims, give them a voice and help them to move forward with their lives.
Last week I attended Restorative Gloucestershire's excellent annual conference. Not only was it great to hear about their work and meet some of their very impressive volunteers, but it was also an opportunity to hear Rosalyn Boyce speak.
The RJC is pleased to announce that Surrey Youth Support Service (Surrey YSS) has achieved the Restorative Service Quality Mark (RSQM), demonstrating that they are providing the public with a safe, high quality restorative service. Surrey YSS joins 20 other organisations working in criminal justice, care and education that have achieved the RSQM.
Last week a case involving a boy who sent a naked picture of himself to a schoolmate, and the subsequent involvement of the police, made the news.
When the police became aware that this incident had occurred they had little choice but to record it as a crime. The boy hasn’t been charged but his involvement in this incident is now on police records and may therefore be accessible if anyone requests an advanced criminal record check. This is far from ideal, but it’s hard to see what else the police could have done in these circumstances.
The RJC is holding six exciting free workshops for those who provide training in restorative practice. The workshops are exclusively for restorative trainers and will enable participants to discuss good practice with their peers.
The workshops will focus on the key areas of assessment covered in the Training Approval Scheme including activities and discussions on:
The Restorative Justice Council (RJC) is inviting tenders for a project to review two of our key quality schemes - the Restorative Service Quality Mark (RSQM) and Training Approval Scheme (TAS).
