Restorative Justice and Domestic Violence/Abuse

Restorative Justice and Domestic Violence/Abuse (2008, updated April 2010) is a report commissioned by Cardiff Prison to look into increasing the effectiveness of their Supporting Offenders through Restoration Inside (SORI) programme with domestic violence perpetrators. 

Many women’s organisations believe that restorative justice has no application to domestic violence, and that victim-offender mediation can only be dangerous for victims. This view is echoed by the British government.

Nevertheless there are places in the world where restorative processes have worked successfully and been well received by victims. This report includes as many of these projects as the authors could find in a limited time. 

In November 2009 the Home Office published Together We Can End Violence Against Women and Girls: A Strategy, proposing a co-ordinated approach to combating all forms of violence against women and girls. The three main elements are protection, provision and prevention.