Restorative justice is not to be applied to situations involving domestic violence and sexual offences

The media has reported extensively on the opening of the Domestic Violence Interview and Virtual Hearing Rooms in Berbice last week, including comments made at the opening about the government’s interest in Restorative Justice. The reports have crafted a narrative which implies that the government is interested in the application of Restorative Justice in the context of domestic violence and sexual violence, even if there is no explicit quotation.

In March 2020, some of us urged the public to reject the application of Restorative Justice in the context of domestic violence and sexual violence (see https://www.stabroeknews.com/ 2020/03/18/opinion/letters/restorativejustice-in-domestic-violence-settingshere-will-put-safety-and-well-being-ofsurvivors-at-serious-risk/ )

We noted that “Restorative justice uses mediation and negotiation supposedly between two adults on the basis of equality, while the power dynamic of domestic violence is unequal power and control by one person over another, which is how domestic violence occurs and re-occurs. No mediator or mediation process of one or two sessions will change this, especially due to the complexity of domestic violence. Unfor-tunately, more than likely the survivor will be intimidated by the presence of the abusive partner and the domestic violence violations will be trivialized. In such unequal conditions justice cannot be served.”

The Government has been developing its capacity for restorative justice through the IADB-funded Support for the Criminal Justice System Project. In March

2021, some of us met with the project team, including the consultant on restorative practices, Dr Dianne Williams. The team confirmed that the approach and training to restorative practices is guided by the International Institute for Restorative Practices (https://www.iirp.edu). The IIRP has been certifying the training.

The project team and the consultant confirmed that the restorative practices model being implemented in Guyana is NOT to be applied to situations involving domestic violence and sexual offences, even if there are applications in other places. We know that the Spotlight Initiative, which is being implemented in Guyana, will no longer consider the application of restorative justice to domestic violence or any other form of genderbased violence.

The Government must be clear and consistent on its commitment to holding perpetrators of gender- based violence accountable. It must not be seen to imply that it is okay for stakeholders to apply restorative justice to ‘solve’ gender-based violence. It must not use forums where domestic violence and sexual violence are being discussed to talk about restorative justice, as in our current social context, restorative justice will lead to more harm for survivors.

Yours sincerely,

Josephine Whitehead, Danuta Radzik – Help & Shelter

Wintress White, Halima Khan, Susan Collymore, Vanessa Ross,

Joy Marcus - Red Thread

Vanda Radzik

Janice Jackson