Gratitude for Kieran O’Dwyer; spotlight on victims of crime; new blog on the Venice Declaration – February update
Our sincerest gratitude and best wishes to Dr. Kieran O’Dwyer
After three years as a core member of RJS4C, Kieran is stepping down to focus on other projects. Kieran has been absolutely instrumental in our work, especially the mapping exercise and case studies, and our work with the IPS and Department of Justice. Kieran remains a strong advocate for restorative justice and practices in Ireland, one of his most recent contributions being to draft the new RPI Quality Assurance Framework published in December. Kieran – we thank you so much for your time and help, and look forward to collaborating in the future!
Spotlight on victims of crime – new book describes restorative justice after child sexual abuse; new articles and consultations on gender-based violence and victim compensation; VSAC seeks volunteers
Many of you by now are familiar with Shaneda Daly, who campaigns and runs a support group for survivors of sexual violence. Her new book (with Linda Watson Brown), Sins of the Father, describes her experience of abuse and criminal justice, and (in Chapter 21, Breaking and Mending) her experience of restorative justice. The book is available here and she was interviewed about it earlier this month here. Shaneda also spoke about her experience of restorative justice here.
On the wider topic of gender-based violence, you may be interested in: making a submission to the new national public consultation on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence (for which we believe restorative justice should be available); this article describing a recent case where restorative justice took place during an Irish military court process after a sexual assault; this article mentioning Circles of Support and Accountability (a reintegrative intervention by PACE that also features on our service map); and this article on restorative justice in the wake of #metoo.
The Law Reform Commission has also published own consultation on reforming state compensation for victims of crime – see an article about this here and the consultation information here.
Finally, Victim Support at Court are seeking volunteers for their service expansion into Galway and May – click here for more information.
New blog on the Venice Declaration and other developments in the international framework
Dr. Petra Masopust Sachova, an RJS4C core member from the Czech Republic, and I wrote a short piece for our website analysing the Council of Europe’s Venice Declaration on the Role of Restorative Justice in Criminal Matters. We discuss its provisions on expanding restorative justice services, developing restorative cultures, teaching restorative justice in higher education, and the role of the Council of Europe in supporting its member states to implement restorative justice. The blog also describes other recent developments from the EU, Council of Europe and UN. Read it here – and please get in touch if you would like to write a blog for our website!
Events and other links of interest
There are several forthcoming webinars and other opportunities of possible interest, including:
- The University of Warwick have organised a talk with Jacob Dunne who, through restorative justice, met the parents of the person he killed – click here for more information.
- Mint House have organised two webinars on restorative justice: one on its role in forensic mental health (click here), and one on using the arts to engage with restorative justice (click here).
- ConnectRP have organised their annual conference on restorative practices in schools – click here for more information.
- I’ll speak at an event hosted by the University of St. Thomas in the US on the pivot to delivering restorative justice online during the pandemic – click here for more information.
- Maynooth University has established new microcredentials in restorative practices and mediation – email Kenny@mu.ie or check the websites for more information.