“Restorative justice in cases of domestic and sexual violence: Healing justice?”

Source: (2000) Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Carleton University.

Using research based on a literature review and interviews with practitioners and professionals in the women’s movement in Canada, Stephanie Coward addresses the controversy over whether alternative criminal justice initiatives should be used in cases of domestic and sexual violence. Part I of her paper summarizes women’s efforts to achieve justice in the current criminal justice system. Part II provides an overview of restorative justice principles and aims. In Part III Coward specifically deals with a number of issues pertaining to the use of restorative justice processes in cases of domestic and sexual violence. Some of the issues she treats are the question of whether women have a true choice about participating in such processes, power dynamics within those processes, and training and standards for mediators and facilitators. She also addresses questions about the adequacy of financial and resource support for restorative justice processes.