Restorative justicemeasures discussed

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The Aboriginal Women's Action Network (AWAN) invites all Aboriginal women from the province's native communities and organizations to take part in their participatory action research project by joining the group in discussing the implications of reforms to the criminal justice system relating to violence against women and children.

The Aboriginal Women's Action Network will be hosting the two-day Provincial Symposium on the Implications of Restorative Justice for Aboriginal Women and Children Survivors of Violence on March 14 to16.

From this two-day symposium, AWAN hopes to build a provincial network of Aboriginal women involved in anti-violence work and interested in a dialog assessing the implications of changes to the criminal justice system.

The restorative justice program encourages the involvement of the victim, and the community in the process. The offender is held responsible for making retribution to the victim and community for the harm caused by his/her actions. Sentencing circles and family case conferencing originated in Aboriginal communities and are making their way into the mainstream criminal justice system. The root of the program traces back to the victim-offender reconciliation programs (VORP) developed in the early 1970s. It was first established in Kitchener, Ont. and was structured as a mediation technique in face-to-face meetings between the offender and victim.

"The purpose of our project is to bring Aboriginal women's perspectives into the discussion on restorative justice," said AWAN research coordinator, Audrey Huntley. "While we realize that Aboriginal women and communities may differ strongly in their approach to anti-violence work, we believe that it is our common goal to end the violence and that this can provide the basis for a much needed discussion."

"We in the Aboriginal Women's Action Network, whole-heartedly agree with the need to decrease the numbers of Aboriginal peoples who are incarcerated, especially our youth. However, we have serious concerns for the safety of survivors of violence when the offender remains in the community.

Restorative justice programs are still quite new and there is a need for education so that Aboriginal women can formulate opinions and not be excluded from any law reform process."

AWAN will present its research to date, as well as a draft paper on the implications of restorative justice for women and children in five Aboriginal communities. The findings are a result of the Aboriginal women, violence and restorative justice system project. It includes educational workshops and focus groups on the issue of violence and restorative justice held in Aboriginal communities during the Fraser River Journey for Justice from Prince George to Vancouver in September of last year.

AWAN has applied for funding to conduct further research in 50 communities around the province and the symposium will lay the foundation for this work. It is AWAN's intent to conduct the organizing, while taking direction from the Aboriginal women in these communities.

The symposium will be held at Lake Sasamat, one hour east of Vancouver. For further information contact Tamara at 604-682-3269 box 3263 or email tamara@axion.net.