tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/restorative-justice-1797/articlesRestorative justice – The Conversation2024-02-05T13:31:04Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2212992024-02-05T13:31:04Z2024-02-05T13:31:04ZBlack communities are using mapping to document and restore a sense of place<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573098/original/file-20240202-25-m9rzc0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C11%2C1856%2C1272&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">These highways displaced many Black communities. Some Black activists are using mapping to do the opposite: highlight hidden parts of history.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.loc.gov/item/2011593044/">Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When historian <a href="https://www.nps.gov/cawo/learn/carter-g-woodson-biography.htm">Carter Woodson</a> created “Negro History Week” in 1926, which became “<a href="https://guides.loc.gov/black-history-month-legal-resources/history-and-overview">Black History Month” in 1976</a>, he sought not to just celebrate prominent Black historical figures but to transform how white America saw and valued all African Americans. </p>
<p>However, many issues in the history of Black Americans can get lost in a focus on well-known historical figures or other important events.</p>
<p>Our research looks at how African American communities struggling for freedom have long used maps to protest and survive racism while affirming the value of Black life.</p>
<p>We have been working on the “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00087041.2023.2256131">Living Black Atlas</a>,” an educational initiative that highlights the neglected history of Black mapmaking in America. It shows the <a href="https://mappingblackca.com/">creative ways</a> in which Black people have historically used mapping to document their stories. Today, communities are using “restorative mapping” as a way to tell stories of Black Americans.</p>
<h2>Maps as a visual storytelling technique</h2>
<p>While most people think of maps as a useful tool to get from point A to point B, or use maps to look up places or plan trips, the reality is all maps tell stories. Traditionally, most <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520292833/chocolate-cities">maps did not accurately</a> reflect the stories of Black people and places: Interstate highway maps, for example, do not reflect the realities that in most U.S. cities the building of major roads <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/04/07/984784455/a-brief-history-of-how-racism-shaped-interstate-highways">was accompanied by the displacement</a> of thousands of Black people from cities. </p>
<p>Like many marginalized groups, Black people have used maps as a <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/cart-2020-0011">visual story-telling technique</a> for “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/44000276">talking back</a>” against their oppression. They have also used maps for enlivening and giving dignity to Black experiences and histories. </p>
<p>An example of this is the NAACP’s campaign to lobby for <a href="https://edsitement.neh.gov/curricula/naacps-anti-lynching-campaigns-quest-social-justice-interwar-years">anti-lynching federal legislation</a> in the early 20th century. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-black-cartographers-put-racism-on-the-map-of-america-155081">NAACP mapped</a> the <a href="https://lynchinginamerica.eji.org/explore">location and frequency</a> of lynching to show how widespread racial terror was to the American public. </p>
<p>Another example is the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee’s efforts to document racism in the American South in the 1960s. The <a href="https://snccdigital.org/inside-sncc/sncc-national-office/research/">SNCC research department’s</a> maps and research on racism played a pivotal role in planning civil rights protests. SNCC produced conventional-looking county-level maps of income and education inequalities, which were issued to activists in the field. The organization also developed creative “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2019.1631747">network maps</a>,” which exposed <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016718521000300">how power structures and institutions</a> supported racial discrimination in economic and political ways. These maps and reports could then identify urgent areas of protest. </p>
<p>More recently, artist-activist Tonika Lewis Johnson created the “<a href="https://www.foldedmapproject.com/interactive-maps">Folded Map Project</a>,” in which she brought together corresponding addresses on racially separated sides of the same street, to show how racism remade the city of Chicago. She photographed the “map twins” and interviewed individuals living at paired addresses to show the disparities. The project brought residents from north and south sides of Chicago to meet and talk to each other.</p>
<h2>Maps for restorative justice</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/carto.45.1.32">Restorative mapping</a> is an important part of the Living Black Atlas: It helps bring visibility to <a href="https://www.southerncultures.org/article/rooted/">Black experiences</a> that have been marginalized or forgotten. </p>
<p>An important example of restorative mapping work comes from the <a href="https://www.honeypotperformance.org">Honey Pot Performance, a collective</a> of Black feminists who helped create the <a href="https://www.honeypotperformance.org/about-the-cbscm">Chicago Black Social Culture Map, or the CBSCM</a>. This digital map traces Black Chicagoans’ experiences from <a href="https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/migrations/great-migration">the Great Migration</a> to the rise of electronic <a href="https://www.thedjrevolution.com/the-history-of-electronic-dance-music/#:%7E:text=The%20early%20forms%20of%20house%20music%20began%20in%20the%20early,with%20drum%20machines%20and%20synthesizers">dance music in the city</a>. The map includes historical records and music posters as well as descriptions of important people and venues for that music. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573191/original/file-20240203-29-y8l8ww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Five Black young men, dressed in suits, sit atop a white car with an Illinois number plate." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573191/original/file-20240203-29-y8l8ww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573191/original/file-20240203-29-y8l8ww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573191/original/file-20240203-29-y8l8ww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573191/original/file-20240203-29-y8l8ww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573191/original/file-20240203-29-y8l8ww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573191/original/file-20240203-29-y8l8ww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573191/original/file-20240203-29-y8l8ww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Millions of African Americans migrated from the Deep South to the industrial North between 1942 and 1970. In this photo, Black youngsters are dressed for Easter on the South Side of Chicago, April 13, 1941.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/TheGreatMigration/60132bf19f434519b6071ff3bb526a65/photo?Query=black%20history%20month%20chicago%20history%20music&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=817&digitizationType=Digitized&currentItemNo=14&vs=true&vs=true">AP Photo/Library of Congress/FSA/Russell Lee</a></span>
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<p>While engaging Black Americans in the effort, the CBSCM map tells the story of Chicago through a series of artistic movements that highlight African Americans’ <a href="https://www.chicago.gov/dam/city/depts/zlup/Historic_Preservation/Publications/Chicago_Black_Renaissance_Literary_Movement_Report.pdf">connection with the city</a>.</p>
<p>After years of gentrification and urban renewal programs that displaced Black people <a href="https://www.beyondthewhitecity.org/urban-renewal-and-bronzeville">from the city</a>, this project is helping remember those neighborhoods digitally. It is also inviting a broader discussion about the history of Black Chicago. </p>
<h2>Restoring a sense of place</h2>
<p>An important idea behind restorative mapping is the act of returning something to a former owner or condition. This connects with the broader <a href="https://bjatta.bja.ojp.gov/media/blog/what-restorative-justice-and-how-does-it-impact-individuals-involved-crime">restorative justice</a> movement that seeks to address historic wrongs by documenting past and present injustices through perspectives that are often ignored or forgotten.</p>
<p>The CBSCM map is not a conventional paper map. While it includes many things you would find in such a map, such as road networks and political boundaries, the map also includes links to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/anti.12679">fiction writing</a> and <a href="https://www.chicago.gov/dam/city/depts/zlup/Historic_Preservation/Publications/Lorraine_Hansberry_House_Landmark_Report.pdf">the Chicago Renaissance</a>, <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520292833/chocolate-cities">art and music</a>, as well as expressions of <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41279638">food</a>, family life, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00220620.2020.1784113">education</a> and politics that document a hidden history of Black life in the city. The map <a href="https://cbscmap.omeka.net/geolocation/map/browse">provides links to specific </a> historic documents, socially meaningful sites, and to the lives of people that tell the story of Black Chicago. </p>
<p>Thus, the map helps highlight how this geography is still present in Chicago in archives and people’s memories. Through this digital representation of Black Chicagoans’ deep cultural roots in the city, the mapping aims to restore a sense of place. Such work embodies what Black History Month is about.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221299/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Black activists have long used maps to help illustrate their communities’ history and to document historical injustices.Joshua F.J. Inwood, Professor of Geography and Senior Research Associate in the Rock Ethics Institute, Penn StateDerek H. Alderman, Professor of Geography, University of TennesseeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2142192023-11-09T21:22:03Z2023-11-09T21:22:03ZNew law sidesteps British culpability in Northern Ireland’s Troubles<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/new-law-sidesteps-british-culpability-in-northern-irelands-troubles" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The <a href="https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3160">Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act</a> became law in the United Kingdom on Sept. 18. It is an attempt to resolve the many open investigations into murders committed during the 30-year armed conflict in Northern Ireland known as <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/the-troubles-of-northern-ireland-history">the Troubles</a>.</p>
<p>The new law calls for setting up an independent commission to deal with the hundreds of killings that remain unsolved to this day. It would offer <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/4/uks-controversial-ngorthern-ireland-legacy-bill-all-you-need-to-know">conditional amnesty</a> to those who co-operate with the commission’s investigations.</p>
<p>The act was passed despite <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2023/09/06/northern-ireland-troubles-legacy-bill-what-it-means-for-victims-families/">widespread condemnation</a> from the communities of Northern Ireland and broader international parties. The British government says the act will “<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-57829037">draw a line under the Troubles</a>” and achieve reconciliation. But this claim is questionable and the act raises concerns regarding colonial legacies and the government’s culpability.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/amnesty-for-troubles-related-crimes-to-become-law-why-many-people-in-northern-ireland-oppose-the-bill-213029">Opponents of the act</a> argue that it violates the Good Friday Agreement by putting “<a href="https://www.coe.int/en/web/commissioner/-/united-kingdom-adopting-northern-ireland-legacy-bill-will-undermine-justice-for-victims-truth-seeking-and-reconciliation">victims’ rights at risk”</a> in ceasing all open criminal investigations. Sinn Fein, the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, said the act is a “<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-66634919">denial of human rights of victims and their families</a>.” Critics also say it will not achieve its purported goals of reconciliation and may actually “<a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2022/11/22/primates-of-all-ireland-say-legacy-bill-will-deepen-divisions-in-northern-ireland/">deepen divisions</a>” between the communities of Northern Ireland. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/amnesty-for-troubles-related-crimes-to-become-law-why-many-people-in-northern-ireland-oppose-the-bill-213029">Amnesty for Troubles-related crimes to become law – why many people in Northern Ireland oppose the bill</a>
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<h2>A “Legacy and Reconciliation” Act</h2>
<p>The act seeks to promote reconciliation through a loosely defined “Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery.” This language of reconciliation and independent commissions appears on the surface to be <a href="https://www.unpo.org/downloads/ProfKnoops.pdf">based on notions of transitional justice and reconciliation</a>. Supporters note that the 1998 <a href="https://education.niassembly.gov.uk/post-16/snapshots-devolution/belfast-agreementgood-friday-agreement-1998">Good Friday Agreement</a>, which brought an end to the Troubles, also declared a goal of reconciliation.</p>
<p>Truth and reconciliation commissions are a <a href="https://www.ictj.org/truth-and-memory">key component of peace processes</a>, helping societies transition out of conflict and into peaceful relations. <a href="https://theconversation.com/do-truth-and-reconciliation-commissions-heal-divided-nations-109925">Despite their varying effectiveness</a>, they are generally seen as a positive step forward. </p>
<p>However, three factors reveal how the U.K. government’s agenda is disingenuous: the definition of justice, the dilemmas of colonial legacies and the government’s own culpability.</p>
<h2>The people should define justice</h2>
<p>Opposition to the act’s amnesty provision reflects a wider debate in peace processes between <a href="https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1011&context=ijps">retributive and restorative justice</a> and the role of amnesty. Retributive justice reflects the idea that perpetrators of crimes should be punished accordingly under the law. In Ireland, criminal justice for perpetrators — or retributive justice — is frequently described as inherent to victims’ rights. </p>
<p>Restorative justice emphasizes shared dialogue between the perpetrator and victim. However, offering perpetrators amnesty — or what some critics label impunity — to garner their participation is often criticized for <a href="https://www.beyondintractability.org/library/reconciliation-through-restorative-justice-analyzing-south-africas-truth-and-reconciliation">not always delivering justice</a> to victims.</p>
<p>South Africa, for example, selected a restorative justice process of <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20211226-desmond-tutu-s-truth-commission-rejected-retributive-justice-in-favour-of-healing">truth-telling, with amnesty</a>, to encourage perpetrator participation. But while dialogue occurred, action to implement the recommendations that followed was never taken, leaving many feeling justice had not been served.</p>
<p>The U.K.’s legislation suggests it is using amnesty to encourage perpetrators to come forward with the truth. However, one of the act’s other controversial moves includes <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/9/11/shut-it-all-down-uk-legacy-bill-threatens-troubles-era-atrocity-inquests">shutting down existing investigations</a> to shift all cases over to the new framework.</p>
<p>British military personnel are subject to a <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8352/">number of open investigations</a> for their role in over 3,500 deaths of the Troubles. In simultaneously applying amnesty and closing investigations, the act clearly serves the interests of the British government. The legislation’s claims to restorative justice become a way to prevent the truth of government’s culpability coming out.</p>
<h2>Reconciliation and colonial legacies</h2>
<p>Northern Ireland faces another issue similar to <a href="https://www.facinghistory.org/en-ca/resource-library/truth-reconciliation-0">Canada’s truth and reconciliation process</a>. There has been no transition of the imperial or colonial institutions. Simply put, the colonial state’s that perpetrated violence are still in power. The problems of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0924051921992747">non-transition</a>, colonialism and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ijtj/iju004">structural violence</a> are widely critiqued by scholars of transitional justice in an Indigenous context. These criticisms carry important lessons for Northern Ireland.</p>
<p>The U.K. government that has passed this legislation — without the consent of the Northern Irish people — still claims sovereign authority over the territory. While a transition of sorts occurred with the creation of the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998, there has been no transition of the Westminster government. Nor any transition of the Crown, whose imperial presence has been felt in Ireland for hundreds of years.</p>
<p>In Canada, despite being forced <a href="https://nctr.ca/about/history-of-the-trc/truth-and-reconciliation-commission-of-canada/">by legal settlement</a> to co-operate with Indigenous groups, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s <a href="https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Volume_6_Reconciliation_English_Web.pdf">final report</a> noted the government still retained a colonial lens of reconciliation in maintaining its “Crown Sovereignty.” The U.K. government is also defining reconciliation in a way that does not respond to the interests or appeals of the people of Northern Ireland. </p>
<h2>Historicizing crimes</h2>
<p>In seeking to draw a line under the conflict and relegating the issues to history, the act appears even more self-serving. The U.K. government is highly culpable in the Troubles — particularly in the <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/bloody-sunday-in-northern-ireland">1972 Bloody Sunday massacre</a> — lending to greater outcry at the notion they may be allowed to absolve themselves of responsibility through legislation.</p>
<p>When former British prime minister David Cameron <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jun/15/bloody-sunday-report-saville-inquiry">apologized for Bloody Sunday</a> in 2010, it was made clear that there was a distinction between the two regimes: his, and that of 1972. Records show that ministers as early as 1997 were aware of the impact of such an apology underpinning the <a href="https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2022/12/28/news/sir_patrick_mayhew_said_british_government_would_not_apologise_over_bloody_sunday-2960402/">liability of the British government</a> and calls for justice.</p>
<p>Proponents of restorative justice processes could argue that an amnesty approach is a possible step toward healing and reconciliation. But such processes must align with the demands of the communities, victims and survivors.</p>
<p>Outcry about the act in Northern Ireland represents the challenge of doing reconciliation without real institutional transition. And of ignoring the legacies of history without addressing the demands for justice in the present day.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214219/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samantha Twietmeyer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Opponents of the U.K. government’s Northern Ireland Troubles Act argue it violates the Good Friday Agreement by denying victims their right to justice.Samantha Twietmeyer, Research fellow, Queen's University, OntarioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2141472023-10-02T18:25:57Z2023-10-02T18:25:57ZPromises to get tough on youth crime might win votes – but the evidence shows it hasn’t worked for NZ<p>The promise to “get tough on youth crime” is a New Zealand election perennial. This year, parties on both the left and right have pledged to crack down on young offenders – despite a lot of evidence that such approaches do not work in the long term.</p>
<p>Already, the <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/make-a-submission/document/53SCJU_SCF_3EB1C4C8-198E-4F8F-60B1-08DBA2A4022F/ram-raid-offending-and-related-measures-amendment-bill">Ram Raid Offending and Related Measures Amendment Bill</a> is working through the legislative process. If passed, it would create a new offence within the Crimes Act, allowing the prosecution of children as young as 12, and prison sentences of up to ten years. </p>
<p>Labour, National and ACT all <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/496851/bill-targeting-ram-raid-offending-passes-first-reading">supported its first reading</a> in parliament. Labour in government also announced <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/election-2023-pm-chris-hipkins-childrens-minister-kelvin-davis-to-announce-new-law-and-order-policy-as-opposition-accuses-of-tough-on-crime-politicking/XBDIHWAUNZHHDDFVD7KWJJ6SRU/">new high-needs youth justice units</a>, drawing criticism from opposition parties and justice reform advocates.</p>
<p>National is proposing a new “young serious offender” justice category, as well as the creation of “<a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/11/national-wants-to-send-youth-offenders-to-military-academies-for-up-to-year.html">youth offender military academies</a>”. ACT wants 200 <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/election-2023-act-leader-david-seymour-promises-tougher-sentences-for-serious-crimes-in-law-and-order-policy/V5OVRN6YHJBTVBX2QL7ECYE5CA/">new youth justice beds</a> and responsibility for youth justice to move from children’s ministry Oranga Tamariki to the Department of Corrections.</p>
<p>According to current polling, parties on the right may be in a position to form the next government. If so, it seems New Zealand’s youth justice system may take a more punitive turn.</p>
<h2>Treating symptoms not causes</h2>
<p>The country’s youth justice system established a “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/000486589302600108">new paradigm</a>” in the early 1990s, after the <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1989/0024/latest/DLM147088.html">Oranga Tamariki Act 1989</a> became law. This offered a homegrown approach to families and their young people unique to New Zealand. The model of family empowerment, restorative justice, diversion from court prosecution and reintegration in society became known internationally.</p>
<p>While there was a turn towards <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1473225408091372?casa_token=rtLH0o9teVEAAAAA:oD6cC6Q7ka_ryfAKqkhRJdF6WDiF5ENY3-F6UE3QRL4AgPnA5yTCiJ9hHh0CVoCqw8DBWBUf4ELNgQ">more punitive</a> adult criminal justice in Europe and the United States, New Zealand’s system stayed relatively stable until 2008, when a National-led coalition government took power.</p>
<p>Youth justice was a central facet of National’s election campaign to end three terms of Labour-led government. Announcing his party’s “youth plan”, National leader <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/john-key-state-of-the-nation-speech/T73UYRMZTNCZTDUIVUPJEDFHOE/#">John Key said</a> part of it was about “rolling up our sleeves to prevent New Zealand’s youth crime problem from becoming tomorrow’s crisis”.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/locking-up-kids-damages-their-mental-health-and-sets-them-up-for-more-disadvantage-is-this-what-we-want-117674">Locking up kids damages their mental health and sets them up for more disadvantage. Is this what we want?</a>
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<p>This included the now familiar election promise to introduce youth “boot camps”, and to reduce the age of criminal prosecution to 12. </p>
<p>But as critics have long argued, a focus on “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1362480605048942?casa_token=RVjVTv2H5fwAAAAA:huulG_wcmYZwjoQXvytqIZSnrrG27HwRwE37NwfnXloJdlzwifqEXY7Id0YeDxZvtFltgh5HiLe3iQ">crime control</a>” and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0306624X13511403">“risk management”</a> has seen punishment prioritised over addressing the root causes of crime and the best interests of young people.</p>
<p>This can be seen in the disproportionate impact of the criminal justice system on Māori and Pacific youth. According to 2021 data, Māori <a href="https://www.orangatamariki.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/About-us/Performance-and-monitoring/Section-7AA/Section-7AA-Quality-Assurance-Standards.pdf">make up 67%</a> of those in youth detention. Pacific youth account for 7%, and those who identify as both Māori and Pacific account for 13%. Young people who identify as neither Māori nor Pacific comprise only 13% of that population.</p>
<p>Failing to address the complex developmental and social drivers of youth crime means those statistics are unlikely to change.</p>
<h2>What is working?</h2>
<p>There is also <a href="https://www.borrinfoundation.nz/report-young-adults-in-the-criminal-justice-system-in-aotearoa-new-zealand/">considerable evidence</a> of the influence young people’s gradual cognitive and social development can have on criminal behaviour. </p>
<p>These age-related factors include reduced impulse control, difficulty with future planning, greater risk taking and susceptibility to peer influence. At the same time, age also offers an increased potential for positive change. </p>
<p>Importantly, offending by children and young people is also often related to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/26338076221087459?casa_token=Jy5oVZaQf-EAAAAA%3A9tg4JAqABKx_oTI7VGEJ98O-ttNn6Eo3Y9SQX4pAFzUu-zKRmDkpHkwdCxCJXUH13B1BglCmOrCpBw">challenges at home</a> and in communities, including poverty, housing instability, and poor physical or mental health.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-rehabilitation-not-harsher-prison-sentences-makes-economic-sense-132213">Why rehabilitation – not harsher prison sentences – makes economic sense</a>
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</p>
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<p>Young people with <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13218719.2017.1315784?casa_token=U3K-VU3F8HMAAAAA%3ABrCYIRZtERwBfEP4ssLcM1Fv-IPVD5iwn_adW0ALClPHwAIFzQfSW6aUjNs6uwkc_8cW-KG02Izrrg">fetal alcohol syndrome spectrum disorder</a>, <a href="https://books.google.co.nz/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Wu7nCgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=youth+justice+trauma+nz&ots=bhEYAPRelz&sig=OQfolt5GHwOqKbZ-4MaXXScr7fw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=youth%20justice%20trauma%20nz&f=false">histories of trauma</a>, <a href="https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/handle/2292/51311">brain injuries</a>, and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13218719.2022.2124548?casa_token=kvbhoMFuJTIAAAAA%3A882C2c9yI-J0Eu8CKpUvPc73gNle8HBJHRsdsABSpkQOyRh7HxgPb5KVO-1PzK-AxZjaoZ9jEeSmuA">neurodiversity</a> are all criminalised at proportionately higher rates than the general population.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cfs.12648?casa_token=0JsxLWl1IfwAAAAA:OxXnGwqZ0qMPjdNdBcni__QTEVbX9cf4FwtVySRJX4aTVmcPsVYRihe-SoVIAgH5HDrbt34iqVk8CxtP">current evidence</a> supports a less punitive approach to youth offending, through diversion or the use of specialist courts, based on promoting welfare and addressing the underlying causes of offending.</p>
<p>There is <a href="https://www.justice.govt.nz/assets/Restorative-Justice.pdf">evidence in New Zealand</a> that
restorative justice reduces reoffending. Family group conferences have been <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/67629">shown to reduce</a> the “frequency and seriousness” of offending for 70% of participants, with <a href="https://www.youthcourt.govt.nz/about-youth-court/rangatahi-courts-and-pasifika-courts/">Rangatahi Courts</a> also helping <a href="https://thehub.swa.govt.nz/resources/rangatahi-court-evaluation-of-the-early-outcomes-of-te-kooti-rangatahi/">reduce reoffending</a> and promote other positive outcomes. </p>
<p>And the police are proposing to broaden the scope of <a href="https://www.police.govt.nz/about-us/maori-police/te-pae-oranga-iwi-community-panels">Te Pae Oranga Iwi community panels</a>, which aim to intervene and help with family and personal problems, and have demonstrated a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1177083X.2019.1642921">significant reduction</a> in harm from adult (17 years or older) reoffending.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-state-removal-of-maori-children-from-their-families-is-a-wound-that-wont-heal-but-there-is-a-way-forward-140243">The state removal of Māori children from their families is a wound that won't heal – but there is a way forward</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Trust the evidence</h2>
<p>While these developments are encouraging, the <a href="https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/sites/default/files/2020-08/He_Take__K%C5%8Dhukihuki_A_Matter_of_Urgency_Report_0.pdf">investigation</a> into “baby uplifts” by Oranga Tamariki, testimonies to the <a href="https://www.abuseincare.org.nz/assets/Uploads/Abuse-in-Care-Volume-One.pdf">Abuse in Care Royal Commission</a>, and <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/492373/two-oranga-tamariki-staff-removed-after-claims-of-inappropriate-sexual-behaviour">reports of abuse</a> in Oranga Tamariki residences, all raise serious questions about placing more young people in institutions.</p>
<p>Furthermore, New Zealand’s rate of youth offending has been <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/latest-statistics-show-youth-justice-system-working#:%7E:text=Offending%20rates%20for%20children%20and,%25%20respectively%20since%202011%2F2012">decreasing for some time</a>. But there is a disproportionately <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cbm.2234">high number</a> of youth justice beds here relative to other comparable countries, especially considering the system struggles with mental health support. </p>
<p>The United Nations has already identified the <a href="https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/news/united-nations-concerned-high-rates-juvenile-and-maori-imprisonment">human rights concerns</a> with New Zealand’s low age of criminal responsibility, punitive practices like “<a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/494469/chief-ombudsman-calls-for-immediate-end-to-use-of-spit-hoods-on-vulnerable-prisoners">spit hoods</a>”, and the disproportionate numbers of rangatahi Māori in the criminal justice system.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/10-is-too-young-to-be-in-court-nz-should-raise-the-minimum-age-of-criminal-responsibility-188969">10 is too young to be in court – NZ should raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>An evidence-led approach to youth justice would involve Māori and see the expansion of specialist courts throughout the country. Rather than lowering the age of criminal responsibility, the eligible age for appearing in the youth courts would be raised. </p>
<p>Overall, the goal would be to minimise the imprisonment of young people, including remand in police cells and youth or adult detention facilities. And there would be much greater investment in iwi partnerships to provide <a href="https://whanauora.nz/assets/resources/OT-REVIEW-REPORT.pdf">wrap-around community services</a> that are whanau-focused and <a href="https://www.orangatamariki.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/About-us/Research/Latest-research/Kaupapa-Maori-approaches-in-contexts-related-to-youth-offending/Kaupapa-Maori-approaches-in-contexts-related-to-youth-offending-final.pdf">culturally appropriate</a>. </p>
<p>As the former chief science adviser to the prime minister <a href="https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2021-10/pmcsa-Its-never-too-early-Discussion-paper-on-preventing-youth-offending-in-NZ.pdf">reported in 2018</a>, more resources directed at mental health, trauma, substance abuse and inadequate housing should be the basis of preventing more youth offending. A more punitive response may win votes but it will not solve the problem.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214147/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Niurangi Maclean provides services to Ara Poutama/Department of Corrections, including writing s27 cultural reports. She receives funding from Ara Poutama to develop and deliver Mana Wahine programmes at Christchurch Women's Prison. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Linda Mussell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A shift towards more punitive responses to youth crime by the next government could reverse the progress New Zealand has made in reducing offending and addressing its root causes.Linda Mussell, Lecturer, Political Science and International Relations, University of CanterburyJessica Niurangi Maclean, Lecturer, Aotahi School of Māori and Indigenous Studies, University of CanterburyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2046662023-09-21T12:43:05Z2023-09-21T12:43:05ZEducators say student misconduct has increased − but progressive reforms or harsher punishments alone won’t fix the problem<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547844/original/file-20230912-17-y3ixy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Only 13% of principals believe suspensions reduce misbehavior, according to a national survey.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/schoolboy-sitting-on-chair-in-corridor-side-view-royalty-free-image/200411974-001">Ableimages/DigitalVision Collection/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The 2022-23 school year was a <a href="https://ies.ed.gov/schoolsurvey/spp/">particularly violent year for educators</a>.</p>
<p>In Florida, a high school student <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/02/28/florida-high-school-nintendo-switch-attack/11363828002/">beat a paraprofessional unconscious</a>. A 15-year-old in Georgia <a href="https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/teen-girl-sentenced-one-year-behind-bars-brutal-attack-teacher">left her teacher with difficulty walking</a>. And a group of students in Texas <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/high-schoolers-allegedly-gang-assistant-principal-pummel-her-hard-rushed-hospital">sent their assistant principal to the hospital</a> after an assault.</p>
<p>Recent <a href="https://www.wptv.com/news/state/broward/14-year-old-student-accused-of-cutting-teacher-with-scissors-in-violent-attack-at-bright-horizons-center">headlines</a> suggest the 2023-24 school year may not be much different.</p>
<p>Such violence at school <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858416653921">disrupts teaching and learning</a> and has elicited <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2023/3/28/23658974/school-discipline-violence-safety-state-law-suspensions-restorative-justice">calls to reform school discipline policies</a>. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://education.ufl.edu/faculty/curran-f-chris/">policy researcher</a> who <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=MTcxlxMAAAAJ&hl=en">studies school safety and discipline</a>, I have seen two camps form <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-biden-administrations-updated-school-discipline-guidelines-fail-to-meet-the-moment/">with polarized and politicized views on school discipline</a>. On the one side are those who seek more restorative responses to misconduct that emphasize building relationships with students and discipline policies that keep kids in school. On the other are calls for greater use of exclusionary and punitive practices like suspension. </p>
<p>In my view, making schools safe requires school leaders not to get caught up in this either/or debate. Instead, I believe it requires recognizing a shared goal of safe schools and the need for a comprehensive approach to achieving it.</p>
<h2>Behavior and the pandemic</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2022/7/6/23197094/student-fights-classroom-disruptions-suspensions-discipline-pandemic">Recent reports</a> suggest these high-profile incidents of violence in schools are part of a <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/press_releases/07_06_2022.asp">general increase in student misconduct</a> over the past couple of years. This contrasts with a decline over the prior decades. </p>
<p>For example, the National Center for Education Statistics found that <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/press_releases/07_06_2022.asp">84% of public school leaders felt</a> the pandemic negatively affected student behavior. Another survey found <a href="https://www.edweek.org/leadership/threats-of-student-violence-and-misbehavior-are-rising-many-school-leaders-report/2022/01">two out of three teachers and leaders perceived more student misbehavior</a> in 2021 than in 2019. </p>
<p>Studies have shown that <a href="https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/when-students-feel-unsafe-absenteeism-grows">students who feel unsafe going to school have worse attendance rates</a> than those attending schools with less violence and misbehavior. They also score <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0829573514540415">lower on standardized tests</a>, particularly when <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858416653921">classroom instruction is disrupted</a>. </p>
<p>What’s more, teachers who experience threats or physical violence from students <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1197327">are more likely to leave their positions</a>, according to a study I co-authored in 2017. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549382/original/file-20230920-17-9aqn77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Young person at rally holds sign that says 'End the school to prison and deportatation pipeline'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549382/original/file-20230920-17-9aqn77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549382/original/file-20230920-17-9aqn77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549382/original/file-20230920-17-9aqn77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549382/original/file-20230920-17-9aqn77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549382/original/file-20230920-17-9aqn77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549382/original/file-20230920-17-9aqn77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549382/original/file-20230920-17-9aqn77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students in New York City attend a rally to end school discipline practices that they say disproportionately affect students of color.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/students-gather-for-a-rally-calling-on-the-passage-of-the-news-photo/1372383627">Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Restorative justice experiences backlash</h2>
<p>Over the past couple of decades, <a href="https://www.educationnext.org/what-do-we-know-about-school-discipline-reform-suspensions-expulsions/">states and school districts nationwide</a> have adopted school discipline reforms that prioritize relationships between peers and with teachers, positive incentives for good behavior and prevention of misconduct.</p>
<p>These policies, often implemented as part of <a href="https://www.edutopia.org/article/what-heck-restorative-justice-heather-wolpert-gawron/">restorative justice initiatives</a>, focus on building community and a positive school climate instead of removing kids from school.</p>
<p>But as school violence persists, these restorative justice reforms are being called into question.</p>
<p>In Nevada, teachers union representatives from the Clark County Education Association <a href="https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/finger-pointing-over-school-violence-targets-restorative-justice-law">sought to revise laws</a> to immediately remove students for violence against school staff. The state legislature there <a href="https://lasvegassun.com/news/2023/jun/25/legislative-changes-in-nevada-education-include-ne/">passed legislation</a> scaling back restorative justice and making it easier to suspend students. In San Diego, the <a href="https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/san-diego-unified-looking-into-districts-discipline-policy/509-ec0b95c6-1290-4c3b-937d-938d1a42d4eb">superintendent promised</a> to revisit restorative discipline policies after parent complaints about student safety. Policy advocates have claimed discipline reform has <a href="https://www.manhattan-institute.org/school-safety-commisson-report-discipline-policy">contributed to school shootings</a>.</p>
<p>While restorative practices and other positive interventions <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/1/96">can improve student outcomes</a>, prior research has found many of these less punitive disciplinary reforms to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2018.1435052">poorly implemented</a> or <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2840.html">less effective than hoped</a>. </p>
<p>In some cases, this has meant <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/2019/09/12/opinion-your-schools-leaders-putting-your-children-greater-risk/2267284001/">students have been allowed to stay in school</a> despite posing a threat to the safety of others. </p>
<h2>Suspensions and expulsions aren’t the solution</h2>
<p>The limitations of restorative practices have resulted in calls for a return to greater use of suspensions and other punitive discipline. In one of the most high-profile displays, a Florida sheriff <a href="https://www.wfla.com/news/education/brevard-county-school-discipline-reportedly-out-of-control-officials-say-staff-under-attack/">announced in front of a jail</a> plans for a return to more punitive discipline, suggesting a need for more use of detentions and suspensions. He lamented that students were no longer afraid of suspensions or having “the cheeks of their a– torn off for not doing right in class.” </p>
<p>In some cases, removing students who are disruptive to the classroom has <a href="https://direct.mit.edu/edfp/article/16/3/443/97124/Peer-Disruption-and-Learning-Links-between">had positive effects on other students’ achievement</a>. But exclusionary school discipline like suspension and expulsion can have their own <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654318791582">unintended consequences</a> on students. For example, suspensions are <a href="https://edsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Noltemeyer_Ward_2015_Meta-Analysis.pdf">related to lower academic test scores for those suspended</a> as well as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01459-3">increased delinquency</a>, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2016.1168475">criminal activity and arrest</a>. </p>
<p>Additionally, schools suspend a disproportionately high number of kids <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51257-4_2">who aren’t white – particularly Black students</a>. In addition, males and students with disabilities are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51257-4_2">more likely to be suspended</a>.</p>
<p>Ultimately, there is little evidence that suspensions and expulsions improve behavior. In fact, a <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2023/02/23/survey-what-purpose-do-suspensions-serve-principals-dont-seem-quite-sure/">recent national survey</a> found that only 13% of principals agreed that suspensions reduce future misbehavior.</p>
<h2>A path forward</h2>
<p>Proponents of progressive discipline reform and those advocating for “get-tough,” exclusionary policies share a desire for safe schools. The sheriff speaking in front of the jail as well as his critics both want to prevent kids from ending up incarcerated. </p>
<p>How do policymakers and educators see past these divides to achieve safer schools?</p>
<p>First, it may help to acknowledge that <a href="https://www.law.umaryland.edu/media/SOL/pdfs/Programs/ADR/Handout2-9-25-17.pdf">effective school discipline policies</a> can include both restorative and exclusionary practices. It is true that there is a need to reduce the disproportionate use of suspension for minor offenses. But it is also true that students who pose an immediate danger to others may need to be temporarily removed to settings where they can receive additional support.</p>
<p>Next, schools can focus on strengthening their school climate through excellent instruction and <a href="https://hechingerreport.org/preventing-suspensions-tackle-discipline-problems-with-empathy-first/">positive relationships between students and teachers</a>. Welcoming schools where students are engaged in learning <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X17690499">may preempt many behavioral situations</a>.</p>
<p>Finally, policymakers can recognize that school safety is affected by the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558499143003">experiences of students outside of school</a>. Addressing the trauma, violence and social disruptions experienced in homes and neighborhoods through broader public policy holds potential to improve safety inside schools. </p>
<p>All of this takes resources and support for schools, educators and students. I believe these are resources well spent, though, to achieve the shared goal of school safety.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204666/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>F. Chris Curran receives funding from the National Institute of Justice and Bureau of Justice Assistance to conduct research on school safety.</span></em></p>Debates about school discipline have become polarized between proponents of restorative justice and those who believe a get-tough approach is required.F. Chris Curran, Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2077912023-06-22T22:14:58Z2023-06-22T22:14:58ZPreventing and addressing violence in schools: 4 priorities as educators plan for next year<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533292/original/file-20230621-27-llwb2o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C266%2C7396%2C4025&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ontario must prioritize funding for accessing essential social services to address the root causes of students' behavioural issues. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Farewell to another school year. In Ontario, after a return to full activities with academics, clubs and teams after pandemic shutdowns, it seems that schools were constantly in the news for negative reasons. </p>
<p>The public heard about a <a href="https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/york-catholic-district-board-students-deserve-to-be-safe-after-alleged-violence-erupts-at-lgbtq2s-walkout-1.6440138">lack of support for LGBTQ2S+ identities</a>, <a href="https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/teacher-argues-school-board-violated-her-freedom-of-speech-when-her-presentation-on-library-books-was-cut-off-1.6428140">chaotic and divisive school trustee meetings</a> and a <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/toronto/article-ontario-teachers-violence-schools/">rise in violence</a> in schools.</p>
<p>A major contributing factor to this rise in violence in schools is <a href="https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/2023/04/20/there-will-be-an-impact-ford-government-shortchanging-school-boards-unions-say.html">the chronic underfunding of public education and the social service sector</a>. We need more infrastructure in communities that are economically neglected, often racialized communities. </p>
<p>In this challenging context, schools need to think hard about how they allocate resources and staff equitably, particularly now, at a time when they are approving their budgets for September. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People seen lining up outside an apartment building." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532960/original/file-20230620-8426-rsjkhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532960/original/file-20230620-8426-rsjkhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532960/original/file-20230620-8426-rsjkhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532960/original/file-20230620-8426-rsjkhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532960/original/file-20230620-8426-rsjkhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532960/original/file-20230620-8426-rsjkhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532960/original/file-20230620-8426-rsjkhj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Schools have faced challenges as students returned to full activities following pandemic shutdowns. Here, residents of Toronto’s Jane and Finch neighbourhood line up at a pop-up COVID-19 vaccine clinic in April 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Violence in schools</h2>
<p>In the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9705668/tdsb-students-involved-violence-2022-2023/">323 students were involved in violence between September 2022 and April 2023, meaning the year has been on pace to set a new record by the end of the school year</a>. </p>
<p>An alarming three-quarters (77 per cent) of members of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), <a href="https://www.etfo.ca/news-publications/media-releases/etfo-member-survey-shows-violence-pervasive-in-schools">said they have “personally experienced violence or witnessed violence against another staff member</a>” in a recent survey conducted by Strategic Communications. Survey results are based on a weighted sample of 24,872 ETFO members’ responses. </p>
<p>Black and other minoritized youth and educators <a href="https://educationactiontoronto.com/articles/systemic-violence-institutional-apathy-and-the-death-of-222-school-aged-students/">are becoming collateral damage by being pushed out of schools due to wilful neglect of institutions in not supporting their needs</a>. For students, the effects can be deadly: there have been 222 homicides of school-aged children (students up to age 21 years old) since 2007 in Toronto, with the victims and perpetrators predominantly Black. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/s3mD7Dyf6bY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘The School to Prison Pipeline in Ontario’ video from Black Legal Action Centre.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The school-to-prison pipeline</h2>
<p>The school-to-prison pipeline continues to cast a dark shadow over the education system in Ontario. This “pipeline” refers to the systematic processes that push students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, <a href="https://www.kroegerpolicyreview.com/post/the-school-to-prison-pipeline-an-analysis-on-systemic-racism-with-ontario-school-boards">out of the educational system and into the criminal justice system</a>.</p>
<p>This trend disproportionately affects marginalized communities, particularly Black and Indigenous students, <a href="https://rsc-src.ca/en/covid-19/impact-covid-19-in-racialized-communities/racial-inequity-covid-19-and-education-black-and">perpetuating a cycle of poverty, systemic discrimination and mass incarceration</a>.</p>
<p>When <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-can-we-slow-down-youth-gun-violence-podcast-194145">Jordan Manners died 16 years ago, it was the first time a high school student had been fatally shot inside a Toronto school</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532780/original/file-20230619-1844-wgz3k3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532780/original/file-20230619-1844-wgz3k3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532780/original/file-20230619-1844-wgz3k3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532780/original/file-20230619-1844-wgz3k3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532780/original/file-20230619-1844-wgz3k3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532780/original/file-20230619-1844-wgz3k3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532780/original/file-20230619-1844-wgz3k3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jordan Manners’s mother, Lorraine Small, is comforted by her sister as she speaks at a news conference in Toronto in January 2008.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS</span></span>
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<p>Since that time, despite numerous reports commissioned and recommendations made by various stakeholders, <a href="https://www.falconerschoolsafetyreport.com/finalReport.html">little has been done to address the root causes of violence in schools and racialized communities</a>. There is no national strategy to prevent violence and homicide largely impacting Black and racialized communities. </p>
<p><a href="https://policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/Manitoba%20Office/2015/09/Tough%20on%20Crime%20WEB.pdf">More policing and the tough-on-crime rhetoric is not the solution</a>, particularly with a mayoral election happening soon in the City of Toronto. </p>
<h2>Tragic impact on marginalized communities</h2>
<p>The school-to-prison pipeline encompasses various interconnected factors including <a href="https://colourofpovertyca.files.wordpress.com/2019/03/cop-coc-fact-sheet-3-racialized-poverty-in-education-learning-3.pdf">zero-tolerance punitive disciplinary practices in schools, over-policing of racialized communities, inadequate resources for students’ social and emotional well-being</a> and a lack of alternative support systems. </p>
<p>This is a result of many institutions and leaders at all three levels of government collectively failing to support the needs of racialized communities. </p>
<p>Suspensions and expulsions <a href="https://www.tdsb.on.ca/Leadership/Boardroom/Agenda-Minutes/Type/A?Folder=Agenda/20210623&Filename=CaringandSafeSchoolsAnnualReport201920204134.pdf">disproportionately affect marginalized students</a>. This is why as of 2020, <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/students">Ontario’s Ministry of Education mandated no more suspensions for children from junior kindergarten to Grade 3</a>.</p>
<p>Indigenous and Black people are <a href="http://www.intersectionalanalyst.com/intersectional-analyst/2017/7/20/everything-you-were-never-taught-about-canadas-prison-systems">disproportionately overrepresented in the criminal justice system</a>. This disparity is rooted in systemic racism and a culture of institutional apathy which together perpetuates cycles of inequality, poverty and intergenerational trauma. </p>
<h2>Calls to action</h2>
<p>There needs to be long-term funding by all institutions to create infrastructure and access to timely and reflective social services for minoritized communities to mitigate and dismantle <a href="https://springmag.ca/rising-food-insecurity-and-the-cost-of-living-crisis">systemic inequities, such as the housing crisis and food insecurity</a>, contributing to the rise in violence in schools. A comprehensive approach is necessary. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, schools and school boards need to plan for the future. Important considerations include: </p>
<p>1) <a href="https://www.edutopia.org/blog/why-restorative-practices-benefit-all-students-maurice-elias">Implement restorative justice practices within all institutions</a>: Move away from punitive disciplinary measures and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quKa7C-wxZk">embrace restorative justice models that focus on repairing harm through trauma-informed and healing approaches</a>. </p>
<p>2) Allocate staff and resources equitably: <a href="https://peopleforeducation.ca/report/2022-annual-report-on-schools-a-perfect-storm-of-stress/">Ontario must prioritize funding for essential social services to address the root causes of students’ behavioural issues</a>, ultimately preventing students being pushed into the criminal justice system. Redirect funds towards mental health services, counsellors, social workers and community programs that prioritize <a href="https://yaaace.com/initiatives">prevention and timely intervention</a>. </p>
<p>3) Develop culturally responsive programs and services: <a href="https://www.wlu.ca/academics/faculties/faculty-of-education/assets/resources/edi-resources-for-educators.html">Inclusive curricula</a> and <a href="https://yaaace.com/social-inclusion-strategy">programs and services</a> that reflect the histories, cultures and contributions of diverse communities matter. </p>
<p>This helps foster a sense of belonging and connection and reduces the likelihood of student and staff disengagement. There needs to be a more urgent implementation of <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/indigenous-people/aboriginal-peoples-documents/calls_to_action_english2.pdf">the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s 94 Calls to Action</a>. </p>
<p>4) Establish community partnerships to mitigate risk factors during evenings and weekends: Forge collaborations between schools, community organizations and families to provide holistic supports <a href="https://theconversation.com/ontario-can-close-students-access-and-opportunity-gaps-with-community-led-projects-184301">and resources that address local community needs, particularly on evenings and weekends</a>. Such community partnerships create continuity of care for children and youth.</p>
<p>At the end of April, Ontario’s Ministry of Education <a href="https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1002960/ontario-combating-violence-and-improving-safety-in-schools">announced funding to combat violence and improving safety in schools through community partnerships</a>. Such investments are critical.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ontario-can-close-students-access-and-opportunity-gaps-with-community-led-projects-184301">Ontario can close students’ access and opportunity gaps with community-led projects</a>
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<p>Yet, according to the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the provincial government has <a href="https://cupe.ca/fords-budget-risks-cutting-7000-education-workers-across-ontario#">used accounting tricks to disguise what amounts to a cut in public school funding for 2023-24</a>. Trustees with the Halton District School Board
say there is a $20-million funding shortfall, and <a href="https://www.insauga.com/school-classroom-cuts-predicted-as-20-million-shortfall-hits-burlington-oakville-and-milton/">funds for 2023-24 won’t support important classroom programs</a>. </p>
<p>If we do not systemically change our approach in how we support marginalized schools, students, parents and teachers, why are we surprised that the system keeps failing them? The effect of such failure is often the tragic outcome of death, being pushed out of schools or receiving a prison sentence. </p>
<p>We all have to do our part to hold institutions accountable, including for failures and neglect.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207791/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ardavan Eizadirad receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and is the Executive Director of the non-profit organization Youth Association for Academics, Athletics, and Character Education (YAAACE) in the Jane and Finch community. </span></em></p>A contributing factor to a rise in violence in Ontario schools is underfunding of education and the social service sector. Using trauma-informed responses is part of the solution.Ardavan Eizadirad, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education, Wilfrid Laurier UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2056902023-05-24T12:33:38Z2023-05-24T12:33:38ZPeace in Sudan depends on justice for the Darfur genocide<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526880/original/file-20230517-27418-2g9fwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sudan's Omar al-Bashir (left) and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo tour Darfur in 2017.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ashraf Shazly/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>I asked the pilot to deviate from our approved flight path and go low over Darfur. It was 2003 and I was the United Nations Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator in Sudan investigating reports of violence. What I saw was a genocide unfolding on my watch.</p>
<p>This was a decade after the 1994 Rwanda genocide, which I also <a href="https://www.e-ir.info/2014/05/15/lessons-from-a-personal-journey-through-the-genocide-in-rwanda/">witnessed first hand</a>, and where we had sworn “never again”. But <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEUWU8JwnDI">here I was in Darfur</a> watching village upon village burning. </p>
<p>Large-scale horrendous brutalities were being committed across Darfur, a region in western Sudan that’s roughly the size of France. They were <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2707480/">racially directed</a>, targeting black African ethnic groups such as the Fur, Zaghawa and Masalit. Eyewitness testimonies indicated that <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2004/05/06/darfur-destroyed/ethnic-cleansing-government-and-militia-forces-western-sudan">the perpetrators</a> were Arab militia, with Sudanese government backing. The <a href="https://www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/NR/rdonlyres/64FA6B33-05C3-4E9C-A672-3FA2B58CB2C9/277758/ICCOTPSummary20081704ENG.pdf">purpose</a> was the permanent removal of the black population in the area so that nomadic Arabs could take over. </p>
<p>Sudan’s <a href="https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/f2060c73fcec41c6a483d8d4e8121788">insidious racism</a> has deep roots. It goes back to its ancient role as a marketplace for <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01440399908575286?journalCode=fsla20">black slaves</a>. The subsequent divide-and-rule <a href="https://ecommons.luc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2407&context=luc_theses">Anglo-Egyptian colonialism</a> and <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/etudesafricaines/32202">supremacist Arab</a> militarised dictatorships further entrenched it. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526877/original/file-20230517-25-yc9w7a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526877/original/file-20230517-25-yc9w7a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526877/original/file-20230517-25-yc9w7a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526877/original/file-20230517-25-yc9w7a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526877/original/file-20230517-25-yc9w7a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526877/original/file-20230517-25-yc9w7a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526877/original/file-20230517-25-yc9w7a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">One of many destroyed villages in Darfur.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images</span></span>
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<p>Between 2003 and 2005, half of Darfur’s population of 5-6 million was <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/displaced-darfur">displaced</a>. Their fragile means for surviving the arid environment – such as wells and irrigated farming – were completely <a href="https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/1480de/pdf/#page=63">destroyed</a>. At least 200,000 <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/darfur">Darfuris died</a>, and thousands of women and girls were raped. </p>
<p>This was <a href="https://www.mukeshkapila.org/books/against-a-tide-of-evil/">intentional</a> – as was confirmed by Sudanese authorities with whom I remonstrated. When they told me that they wanted a “final solution” to the Darfur insurgency, I was left in no doubt that the 1948 <a href="https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.1_Convention%20on%20the%20Prevention%20and%20Punishment%20of%20the%20Crime%20of%20Genocide.pdf">Genocide Convention</a> – which prohibits ethnically targeted destruction – applied. </p>
<p>The UN and world powers <a href="https://unwatch.org/the-seven-excuses-of-inaction-for-darfur/">refused</a> to listen and <a href="https://www.hmd.org.uk/resource/dr-mukesh-kapila-cbe/">I lost my job</a> for speaking out publicly. But extensive lobbying extracted a <a href="https://press.un.org/en/2004/sc8104.doc.htm">UN Security Council presidential statement</a> in 2004, and the first-ever <a href="https://press.un.org/en/2005/sc8351.doc.htm">UN Security Council referral</a> to the International Criminal Court in 2005. This meant that the court could exercise jurisdiction over Sudan and initiate formal investigations.</p>
<p>It was gratifying to provide evidence that enabled Omar al-Bashir to enter history in 2009 and 2010 as the <a href="https://www.icc-cpi.int/darfur/albashir">first head of state indicted</a> for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. He was alongside <a href="https://www.icc-cpi.int/darfur">five other associates</a> who obstructed us in bringing relief to Darfur.</p>
<p>But this was no consolation. Bashir remained in power despite international arrest warrants. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, Darfuri lands, emptied of their African inhabitants, were rehabilitated with generous <a href="https://www.e-ir.info/2007/12/13/the-politics-of-aid-helping-darfur/">foreign aid</a> and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10402650802068051?journalCode=cper20">re-populated</a> by Arab groups. With the demography of the region changed, this is a clear example of ethnic cleansing.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.gcsp.ch/our-experts/prof-mukesh-kapila-cbe">an expert in</a> humanitarian affairs, with particular expertise in tackling crimes against humanity, disaster and conflict management, I argue that without <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/rj-jr/index.html#:%7E:text=What%20is%20Restorative%20Justice%3F,the%20aftermath%20of%20a%20crime.%E2%80%9D">restorative justice</a> – justice that focuses on repairing the harm caused by involving those who have been affected – there cannot be peace.</p>
<p>The failure to hold Darfur rights abusers accountable emboldened the national government and security apparatus to redouble their oppression around Sudan. This ignited several violent rebellions and inevitable countrywide instability. In fact, the crisis in Sudan today involves key military players who rose to power under Bashir during this time. </p>
<h2>Darfur’s toxic legacy</h2>
<p>In 2013, as a Special Representative of the <a href="https://www.aegistrust.org/">Aegis Trust for the Prevention of Crimes against Humanity</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQSj6eIW8IE">I witnessed</a> in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan state the scorched-earth policies of its governor, Ahmed Harun. He was a close associate of Bashir. Even though Harun had been <a href="https://www.icc-cpi.int/darfur/harun">indicted by the ICC</a> in 2007, he carried out new ethnically targeted crimes against black Africans of the Nuba and in Blue Nile state. His tactics were further <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2011-11-02-the-butcher-of-nubas-new-job/">brutal refinements</a> of what he had deployed in Darfur a decade earlier. </p>
<p>Bashir and Harun effected the original Darfur genocide through their <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-tracing-the-history-of-sudans-janjaweed-militia-118926">Janjaweed</a> militia, alongside the Sudanese Armed Forces. The Janjaweed were then formalised into the Rapid Support Forces. They were strengthened through <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/border-control-hell-how-eus-migration-partnership-legitimizes-sudans-militia-state">European Union (EU) funding</a> for border control to stem refugee flows into Europe. They gained further combat experience and money by being recruited to fight in <a href="https://jamestown.org/program/sudans-controversial-rapid-support-forces-bolsters-saudi-efforts-yemen/">Yemen</a>. </p>
<p>The international community’s pragmatic Sudan policy has favoured quick fixes rather than systematically tackling underlying problems. <a href="https://theconversation.com/sudans-conflict-has-its-roots-in-three-decades-of-elites-fighting-over-oil-and-energy-204389">Competitive self-interests</a> are also in play as nations vie for access to Sudan’s<a href="https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/sudan-oil-and-gas"> oil</a>, <a href="https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/sudan-extractive-industries">mineral</a> and <a href="https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/sudan-agricultural-sectors">agricultural</a> riches. And so, deal-making trumped principles to boost the perpetrators instead of demanding their accountability.</p>
<p>Sudan’s military elites triumphed further when the international community undermined the popular pro-democracy uprising that led to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/11/sudan-army-ousts-bashir-after-30-years-in-power">Bashir’s removal in 2019</a>. In a massive policy error, the UN, US and EU pushed for a <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/04/20/sudan-civil-war-biden-burhan-hemeti-foreign-policy/">transition</a> that left Bashir’s military successors in control: Chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan for the Sudanese Armed Forces, and Commander General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo – aka Hemedti – for the Rapid Support Forces. </p>
<p>The violent power competition between these two generals is the immediate trigger to Sudan’s current conflict. There are <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-65448691">catastrophic humanitarian</a> consequences amid <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-65495539">peace mediations</a> that repeatedly fail. </p>
<h2>Making peace</h2>
<p>Peacemaking is never easy, but conflicts hallmarked by war crimes and crimes against humanity are impossible to end without restorative justice. Extraordinary hurts necessitate <a href="https://uwpress.wisc.edu/books/5740.htm">exceptional journeys of recovery</a> through grieving, forgiving and healing. That requires acknowledging wrongs done, penalising wrongdoers, compensating victims and <a href="https://www.academia.edu/1858696/Memory_and_Justice?auto=download&email_work_card=download-paper">memorialising</a> their suffering through monuments that become places of pilgrimage to educate future generations.</p>
<p>That is how the <a href="https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/documents/library-of-the-court-en.pdf">Nuremberg Tribunal</a> helped post-Nazi Germany and Europe to move on. And how the <a href="https://www.icty.org/">International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia</a> strove to heal the Balkans from the 1995 <a href="https://srebrenica.org.uk/">Srebrenica</a> genocide.</p>
<p>Justice is best served closest to the people who suffer but, at the same time, crimes against humanity in one place are crimes against all humanity everywhere. So, the whole world must be part of legal processes that ensure transparency and fairness, provide lessons and reset global norms. The tribunals for the 1970s <a href="https://www.ushmm.org/genocide-prevention/countries/cambodia/case-study/justice/tribunal">Cambodian</a> and 1994 <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Rwanda-genocide-of-1994/Aftermath">Rwandan</a> genocides did that with hybrid domestic and international mechanisms.</p>
<p>Where this does not happen, old wounds fester, even ancient ones such as those from the <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-armenian-genocide-1915-16-overview">Armenian</a> genocide a century ago or the 1930s <a href="https://cla.umn.edu/chgs/holocaust-genocide-education/resource-guides/holodomor">Holodomor</a> genocide of Ukrainians. More recently, the unrectified genocides of the <a href="https://www.state.gov/marking-five-years-since-the-genocide-in-burma/">Rohingya</a>, <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/01/20/german-lawmakers-recognize-yazidi-genocide-in-iraq_6012355_4.html">Yazidi</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/22/uk-mps-declare-china-is-committing-genocide-against-uyghurs-in-xinjiang">Uyghur</a>, and in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAyN9LljW7M">Tigray</a> continue to cause turmoil and encourage impunity. That is why “never again” is happening “again and again”.</p>
<h2>Shabby peace deals</h2>
<p>There is no shortage of mediators for Sudan’s current crisis. But their impatient peace panaceas underestimate the impact of the generation-long Darfur genocide and its direct connection to current events. Shabby deals for short-term gains – appeasing the generals and further consolidating their power at the cost of civilian democracy – will unravel. </p>
<p>The bulk of the Sudanese at the centre, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/27666997">dominated</a> by an Arabic elite – authorities, intelligentsia, rich – ignored the generation-long inhumanities at the peripheries of their vast land. But, sooner or later, there is no alternative to the path to peace in Sudan that is walked hand-in-hand by all its diverse peoples. </p>
<p>This will be a long journey. Short-changing justice and accountability will make it longer still. The handover of Bashir and other indictees to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity in Darfur should be integral to all peace negotiations, and a condition for aiding recovery. Furthermore, fresh crimes being committed in the current conflict must not go unpunished. </p>
<p>Sudan’s stakeholders in Africa, the Middle East and globally serve the nation best – and also their own self-interests – by not standing in the way of peace through justice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205690/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mukesh Kapila does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The failure to hold the perpetrators of the Darfur genocide accountable has led to further instability in Sudan.Mukesh Kapila, Professor Emeritus in Global Health & Humanitarian Affairs, University of ManchesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1981222023-02-20T16:14:02Z2023-02-20T16:14:02ZHow transformative justice can address abuse in Canadian sport<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510929/original/file-20230217-14-cqe26a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C42%2C5590%2C3690&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Only when the full extent of the wrongdoing has been identified can real progress be made.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In January 2023, dozens of scholars (ourselves included) signed an <a href="https://www.scholarsagainstabuse.com/">open letter</a> to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling for an independent judicial inquiry into widespread allegations of abuse in the nation’s sporting organizations. </p>
<p>Our movement, Scholars Against Abuse in Canadian Sport, encompasses experts on law, education, sociology, criminology, history, psychology, and numerous other disciplines, collectively tackling the issue of abuse in sport.</p>
<p>We have all drawn the same conclusion — Canada desperately requires an independent judicial inquiry. Such an inquiry, as legal scholar <a href="https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/gilbert-canadians-deserve-a-judicial-inquiry-into-abuse-in-sports">Daphne Gilbert</a> recently explained, can “support ongoing efforts, while creating a space to unpack the crisis and propose ideas to fix it.”</p>
<p>Judicial inquiries can take many forms, but as Justice <a href="https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2014/bcp-pco/CP32-56-1990-1-eng.pdf">Charles Dubin</a> — who led the 1990 inquiry into drugs and banned practices in sport — explained, inquiries “seek a way of correcting errors of the past so that they will not recur.”</p>
<p>A judicial inquiry is an important first step to overhauling Canada’s abusive sporting culture, laying the foundation for broader, <a href="https://www.sace.ca/learn/restorative-and-transformative-justice/">transformative justice</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510446/original/file-20230216-26-2nc9av.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People walk past a door with the Hockey Canada symbol. A red and black maple leaf with a hockey player." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510446/original/file-20230216-26-2nc9av.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510446/original/file-20230216-26-2nc9av.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510446/original/file-20230216-26-2nc9av.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510446/original/file-20230216-26-2nc9av.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510446/original/file-20230216-26-2nc9av.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510446/original/file-20230216-26-2nc9av.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510446/original/file-20230216-26-2nc9av.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hockey Canada and other sporting bodies have been rocked by sexual abuse allegations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Transformative justice pursues systemic change, by situating survivors and abusers within social structures, past and present. By addressing the root causes of violence, we can reimagine systems to allow for more supportive, safe and accountable communities. This can, and should, include sport. </p>
<p>Only when the full extent of the wrongdoing has been identified can real progress be made.</p>
<h2>Why calls for restorative justice are problematic</h2>
<p>A different approach, however, is being floated as the only solution: <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-instead-of-another-judicial-inquiry-we-should-use-restorative-justice/">restorative justice</a>. Conceptually, restorative justice encompasses a range of related practices and ideas for addressing specific instances of harms enacted against an individual or community. </p>
<p>At the core of most definitions of restorative justice is voluntarism. As legal scholar <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/C/bo70058417.html">Annalise Acorn explains</a>, survivors and abusers meet, of their own free will, for “a reconciliation of meaningful — even strict — accountability for wrongdoing with compassion for both victim and perpetrator.” </p>
<p>Restorative justice can provide an alternative to the more retributive and carceral aspects of the criminal justice system. Some members of marginalized communities, such as Black and Indigenous Peoples, who are <a href="https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/practice-areas/criminal/black-and-indigenous-prisoners-continue-to-suffer-from-poor-correctional-outcomes-report/371402">overpoliced and disproportionately incarcerated</a>, may have a valid mistrust of the criminal justice system, and prefer a community-based restorative approach. </p>
<p>Although some survivors may benefit from restorative justice, limitations of restorative justice processes suggest that they must not be the <em>only</em> action taken to address and dismantle serious and systemic abuse in Canadian sport.</p>
<p>Restorative justice often relies on the assumption that there was a past ideal environment to begin with that can be restored. It also seeks to restore interpersonal relationships, rather than effect broad, systemic change. It is a reactive tool that cannot fix the institutional failings and culture of violence that generated and normalized harm in the first place. </p>
<p>Two decades ago, justice reformer <a href="https://canadianscholars.ca/book/stories-of-transformative-justice/">Ruth Morris</a> argued, “restorative justice does not go far enough. It still accepts the idea that one event now defines all that matters of right and wrong — it leaves out the past, and the social causes of all events.” </p>
<p>Restorative justice can also be problematic because it can recreate a cycle of abuse, in which an abuser seeks reconciliation, only to then continue the violence. Although restorative justice processes do not necessarily require forgiveness, survivors can feel pressure to forgive perpetrators. </p>
<p>This is problematic as forgiveness asks survivors to relinquish their justified negative feelings towards the abuser, implying that the survivor has moved on, and suggesting that “<a href="https://www.vox.com/22979070/restorative-justice-forgiveness-limits-promise">society has permission to do so as well</a>.”</p>
<p>Some survivors may not want to engage in restorative justice, for a number of reasons. For example, they might understandably not want to have any further communication with their abuser. Furthermore, perpetrators may not be sincerely remorseful. Whether or not individual athletes decide to engage in restorative justice, it is clear that such measures cannot redesign an entire system. </p>
<p>An inquiry would afford survivors an opportunity to use their voices to speak truth to power within a platform that can result in meaningful, structural change. Only after the stories have been told and the facts found can measures be taken that directly ameliorate the wrongs committed. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510931/original/file-20230217-374-5ni8j3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman with blonde hair speaking in parliament." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510931/original/file-20230217-374-5ni8j3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510931/original/file-20230217-374-5ni8j3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510931/original/file-20230217-374-5ni8j3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510931/original/file-20230217-374-5ni8j3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510931/original/file-20230217-374-5ni8j3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510931/original/file-20230217-374-5ni8j3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510931/original/file-20230217-374-5ni8j3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Federal sport minister Pascale St-Onge has said there is no coherence in Canada’s safe sport system.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Listening to survivors</h2>
<p>Since Parliament’s <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/sports/canadian-sports-abuse-study-motion-standing-committee-1.6635877">Standing Committee on the Status of Women</a> stepped in to provide space for survivors to be heard, calls for a judicial inquiry by the sport and academic communities have been clear. However, to date, the Government of Canada has been slow to act.</p>
<p>Retired soccer player <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/FEWO/meeting-43/evidence#Int-11968976">Ciara McCormack</a>’s testimony at the Standing Committee was unequivocal:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Systemic change means shining a light into the financial relationships that preserve power and uncovering and dismantling these relationships and systems that protect Canadian sport institutions at the expense of athletes’ lives…Only a judicial inquiry into abuse in Canadian sport, with a broad scope, will shine a necessary light on the harm of the past while rebuilding trust for a better future.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>On the same day as McCormack’s testimony, boxer <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/FEWO/meeting-43/evidence#Int-11968893">Myriam Da Silva Rondeau</a> also urged the government to assemble an inquiry. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“There can be no rebuilding unless a judicial inquiry is conducted by a third party in order to hold the people who perpetuate abuses and the current sport culture in Canada to account.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Retired cyclist <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/FEWO/meeting-44/evidence#Int-11975370">Geneviève Jeanson</a> echoed their remarks. As did former Team Canada soccer captain <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/FEWO/meeting-48/evidence#Int-12025772">Andrea Neil</a>: “Nothing can change until we turn the lights on and reckon with where we are.”</p>
<p>Abuse depends upon the silencing of those impacted. Failing to listen to survivors can be retraumatizing and can minimize their agency.</p>
<p>An inquiry will uncover those responsible for failing the athletes and prevent them from escaping accountability for wrongdoings.</p>
<p>This is a key moment as conversations about the need for safer sport have captured public attention. We must ensure that survivors’ voices are centered in decisions on how to move forward. </p>
<p>Relying solely on restorative justice would fumble a vital opportunity to repair a broken system. An independent judicial inquiry that allows for sustainable, transformative justice, must be part of the solution.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198122/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>By addressing the root causes of violence, we can reimagine systems to allow for more supportive, safe and accountable sport communities.Shannon Giannitsopoulou, Doctorate of Education candidate, University of TorontoMacIntosh Ross, Assistant Professor, Kinesiology, Western UniversityMartine Dennie, Assistant Professor, University of ManitobaNicole O'Byrne, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of New BrunswickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1995782023-02-15T17:39:53Z2023-02-15T17:39:53ZWhy a judicial inquiry into athlete abuse is not the right approach<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509971/original/file-20230214-27-lix26a.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C263%2C3982%2C2706&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There have been calls for a judicial inquiry into abuse in Canadian sport, but a restorative approach would better protect athletes.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/why-a-judicial-inquiry-into-athlete-abuse-is-not-the-right-approach" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>It is heartening to see the recent <a href="https://www.scholarsagainstabuse.com/">open letter</a> signed by so many Canadian academics calling on the federal government to address the <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci9050068">long history of athlete abuse in sport</a>. </p>
<p>The abuse of athletes has remained mostly unseen or ignored by governments, sport organizations and the public despite more than <a href="https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/58962/1/9781000803594.pdf">40 years of documentation and research</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/sports/scholars-against-abuse-jan23-1.6722975">The letter called for a judicial inquiry</a>, but we believe there are more effective ways to address athlete maltreatment. In a recent brief to <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/441/FEWO/Brief/BR12169828/br-external/Jointly01-e.pdf">two parliamentary standing committees</a> we wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Given the wealth of relevant research available on Canadian athletes’ experiences, including the nature, prevalence, and effects of maltreatment, we do not believe a judicial inquiry is necessary to recommend solutions.” </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Why a judicial inquiry isn’t the right approach</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/privy-council/services/commissions-inquiry.html">Judicial inquiries</a> are mandated to investigate issues and make recommendations for change. Their recommendations are often implemented selectively or ignored, leaving reports to gather dust on a shelf.</p>
<p>The 1990 <a href="https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2014/bcp-pco/CP32-56-1990-1-eng.pdf">Dubin Inquiry</a> recommended, among other things, ending the win-at-all-costs approach to sport. If that recommendation was implemented, it could have prevented much of the abuse that has occurred in the last 30 years.</p>
<p>Judicial inquiries are led by appointed investigators in a top-down manner, likely removing focus from the voices of athlete survivors. They are expensive, tend to be prolonged as issues often proliferate and their adversarial tone has the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022847223135">potential to retraumatize witnesses</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-criminal-justice-system-is-retraumatizing-victims-of-violent-crime-193067">The criminal justice system is retraumatizing victims of violent crime</a>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509972/original/file-20230214-27-qsyrnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A gymnast hanging on rings." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509972/original/file-20230214-27-qsyrnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509972/original/file-20230214-27-qsyrnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509972/original/file-20230214-27-qsyrnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509972/original/file-20230214-27-qsyrnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509972/original/file-20230214-27-qsyrnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509972/original/file-20230214-27-qsyrnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509972/original/file-20230214-27-qsyrnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Judicial inquiries are often a top-down process that can potentially retraumatize witnesses.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Current knowledge of athlete maltreatment in sport is the result of decades of research. And the <a href="https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/58962/1/9781000803594.pdf">conclusions are remarkably consistent</a> regarding prevalence, causes, effects and prevention strategies. A judicial inquiry is unlikely to add much to our current understanding of the problem.</p>
<p>Judicial inquiries investigate past harms to understand what happened and assign blame. Canadian researchers have <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci9050068">mapped the attempts to address athlete abuse</a>, outlined the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19406940.2014.958180">failure of previous policies</a> and developed the first recommendations for making adjudication of athlete abuse <a href="https://kpe.utoronto.ca/sites/default/files/harassment_and_abuse_in_sport_csps_position_paper_3.pdf">independent from sport organizations</a>. </p>
<p>Research has exposed the <a href="https://casem-acmse.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/CASEM-Position-Statement-Maltreatment-in-Sport.pdf">systemic conditions of sport that give rise to athlete abuse</a>, the lack of transparency and accountability in sport organizations and the often career-ending retaliation against athletes who dare to report their maltreatment.</p>
<p><a href="https://athletescan.ca/safe-sport/">Actions called for by Canadian national team athletes</a> are currently being implemented. Their recommendation for a <a href="https://sportintegritycommissioner.ca/files/UCCMS-v6.0-20220531.pdf">universal code of conduct</a> produced the most comprehensive code anywhere, with compliance mandatory for all federally funded sport organizations. </p>
<p>Their call for an independent mechanism to investigate and adjudicate complaints now exists in the form of the <a href="https://abuse-free-sport.ca/">Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC)</a>. Engagement with the OSIC is mandatory for all federally funded sport organizations. Other initiatives are in progress. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/addressing-athlete-abuse-in-canadian-sport-requires-internal-change-and-external-investigators-188783">Addressing athlete abuse in Canadian sport requires internal change and external investigators</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<p>These actions are not perfect and progress has been slow. However, working to strengthen reforms already underway is preferable to starting over with a judicial inquiry. </p>
<p>Gaps are being addressed. For example, although OSIC only has jurisdiction over national level athletes, provinces and territories have <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/sports/canada-safe-sports-officer-pelletier-speaks-1.6733645">committed to having an independent complaint mechanism</a> in place by the end of 2023. The federal minister of sport is working toward harmonization, ensuring equal treatment for Canadian athletes across all jurisdictions.</p>
<p>A time-consuming and expensive judicial inquiry could bring the current momentum to a halt, permitting sport organizations to return to a status quo. Any delay would stall education, prevention and investigation measures, potentially allowing further harm to athletes. And there is no guarantee that future governments will act on the inquiry’s recommendations. </p>
<h2>Alternative processes</h2>
<p>Inquiries are intended, in part, to provide wronged parties the opportunity to be heard and receive reparations for the harms experienced. Survivors who wish to tell their stories should feel heard and supported as part of the healing process. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/rj-jr/index.html">Restorative inquiries</a> engage survivors in the development of the process. They provide a more accommodating, trauma-informed approach to meeting the needs of survivors. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509974/original/file-20230214-14-du84rl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two people clasp their hands together." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509974/original/file-20230214-14-du84rl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509974/original/file-20230214-14-du84rl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509974/original/file-20230214-14-du84rl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509974/original/file-20230214-14-du84rl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509974/original/file-20230214-14-du84rl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509974/original/file-20230214-14-du84rl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509974/original/file-20230214-14-du84rl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Restorative inquiries provide a trauma-informed approach that engages survivors in the healing process.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>Restorative processes focus on building trust and relationships and inquiries can occur in parallel with existing and developing reforms. They are driven by the question of how we deal with our past while building better sport; and they are solution-focused. Psychiatry scholar <a href="https://www.traumaconsortium.com/media/uploads/cms_blocks/ThreeRowsImageTitleSubtitleContent/pdf/bjudith_l_herman.pdf">Judith Herman</a> found that, “rather than punishment of perpetrators, survivors frequently prioritized prevention of future harms.” </p>
<p>Sport is the only institution in Canada where children do not have a protected status. The self-regulating nature of sport deprives child athletes of the protections recognized in education, health care, the justice system and the workplace.</p>
<p>Creating child protection legislation for young athletes will not address former harms. But it will establish age-appropriate laws to prevent future abuses and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40318-022-00225-2">exclude children from the autonomy of sport</a>.</p>
<p>Safe sport solutions must be empirically driven, validated by athletes and should involve age-appropriate legislation. Building a healthy future for Canadian athletes is an urgent matter that has gained national attention. Maintaining this momentum is essential.</p>
<p><em>Wendy MacGregor, an independent researcher and advocate, also co-authored this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199578/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Donnelly does not currently receive any research funding, or have any conflicting affiliations. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bruce Kidd is a member of the Federal Provincial Territorial Sport Committee Work Group (FPTSC WG), comprised of F-P/T government officials and sport sector experts. The FPTSC WG provides recommendations to the FPTSC on initiatives aimed at increasing participation of women and girls in all facets of sport. </span></em></p>There are growing calls for a judicial inquiry to investigate abuse in Canadian sport. We argue that there are better alternatives to address the problem.Peter Donnelly, Professor Emeritus of Sociology of Sport, University of TorontoBruce Kidd, Professor Emeritus of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1992192023-02-08T11:00:18Z2023-02-08T11:00:18ZState capture in South Africa: time to think differently about redress and recovering the stolen loot<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508584/original/file-20230207-13-4il90j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Matshela Koko, former acting group CEO of Eskom, testifies at the state capture commission in 2021. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> Luba Lesolle/ Gallo Images via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South Africans are plunged into darkness daily by <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-12-12-dark-dumb-and-dangerous-inside-south-africas-perfect-electrical-storm/">rolling power cuts</a>. These are a stark reminder of the destruction that years of state capture wreaked on Eskom, the state-owned <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/judicial-commission-inquiry-state-capture-report-part-4-volume-4-29-apr-2022-0000">power utility</a>. </p>
<p>Eskom’s inability to meet the energy needs of citizens and the economy is now the undeniable example of how state capture made parastatals and other state institutions ineffective. The country urgently needs action to recover the stolen funds and fix the economy. </p>
<p>So far, President Cyril Ramaphosa has offered only a few general targets, and outcomes have been dissatisfying. For example, the “<a href="https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/speeches/address-president-cyril-ramaphosa-response-state-capture-commission-report%2C-union-buildings%2C-tshwane">total of R2.9 billion</a>” that he said law enforcement agencies have recovered is only a small fraction of the estimated <a href="https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/south-africa/state-capture-scorecard-r500bn-looted-zero-assets-recovered/">R500 billion</a> stolen through state capture. Impunity lies at the root of this mess.</p>
<p>The culture of impunity has lingered since the presidency of <a href="https://pari.org.za/betrayal-promise-report/">Jacob Zuma</a>. If it is to be replaced with a new era of integrity and accountability, a lot more needs to be done. But what, and how exactly?</p>
<p>In my <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/full/10.2989/CCR.2022.0001">paper</a> I answer this question by proposing a workable, constitutionally congruent plan. I lay the foundations for a new anti-corruption redress system which would help government to recover the money and restore dignity to the people of South Africa.</p>
<p>The starting point in my argument is that the constitutional <a href="https://civicsacademy.co.za/what-is-the-separation-of-powers/">separation of powers</a> – the division of state authority and core functions – includes a fourth branch of state. It’s best described as the “integrity and accountability branch” and it should include the <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/full/10.2989/CCR.2022.0001">prosecuting authority</a>. </p>
<p>When the special role of the prosecuting authority is thus understood, prosecutorial policy can be harnessed to begin recovering the illegal profits of state capture. This should start urgently – pending the necessary legislative intervention – with the use of the internationally recognised redress tool, the non-trial resolution. This tool can be adjusted to fit the South African constitutional context.</p>
<h2>Non-trial resolutions reimagined</h2>
<p>Non-trial resolutions are mechanisms to resolve corruption cases without the need for a full criminal trial. Criminal trials entail an onerous burden of proof, “beyond reasonable doubt”. They also tend to be protracted and costly to run. Economic corruption cases are especially difficult to prosecute, given the complex nature of the fraud, which tends to cross international borders. </p>
<p>Non-trial resolutions take various forms and are used <a href="https://www.unodc.org/documents/treaties/UNCAC/WorkingGroups/workinggroup2/2021-September-6-10/CAC-COSP-WG.2-2021-CRP.1.pdf">extensively internationally</a>. They include a plea bargain, a deferred prosecution agreement, a non-prosecution agreement and a more <a href="https://assets-global.website-files.com/5e0bd9edab846816e263d633/5f15e0a4a35dd9b7abd817b1_FACTI%20BP6%20Foreign%20bribery.pdf">informal declination to prosecute</a> (for example, by way of letter).</p>
<p>To ensure localised fit and legitimacy, these instruments should collectively be termed “anti-corruption redress” mechanisms. In my <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/full/10.2989/CCR.2022.0001">article</a>, I explain how and why it would be constitutional to start concluding such non-trial resolutions with state capture offenders pending the legislative introduction of the anti-corruption redress system I propose. </p>
<p>For now, prosecutorial policy (for example, by way of directives) could be issued to make use of a potentially valuable section of the <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/acts/1998-032.pdf">National Prosecuting Authority Act, 1998</a>: section 38. It allows the prosecuting authority to use specialists (such as forensic and legal experts) in “specific cases”. </p>
<p>State capture is surely a “specific case” deserving special attention. Section 38 could thus be used to conclude deferred prosecution agreements, or other types of anti-corruption redress agreements. These would be concluded with people or entities who report their illegal profits themselves, or who are identified by whistle-blowers. This way, money can start flowing back into the public purse sooner rather than later.</p>
<p>These agreements would set out the redress deliverables (such as paying back the money back by a certain date and rehabilitating the pillaged entity) and other rights and obligations of the parties. At this stage, no penalties for wrongdoing should be imposed – that needs legislative backing because the law presumes innocence.</p>
<p>But, to reiterate, recouping the ill-gotten profits of state capture can start (via prosecutorial policy). This component of my proposal is inspired by former Constitutional Court judge Johan Froneman’s formulation of the “no profit, no loss principle” in the <a href="http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2015/7hoa.pdf">2014 case of All Pay 2</a>. </p>
<p>The nub of this principle is that although penalties cannot be imposed without the proper application of the law, public accountability means that there is no right to profits unlawfully gained. The Zondo Commission <a href="https://www.statecapture.org.za/site/information/reports">reports</a> provide details of who gained illegally.</p>
<h2>Legislative reform</h2>
<p>While the disgorgement (surrender) of the illegal profits gets underway as described above, the foundations can be laid for more comprehensive legislative reform. This is the third component of my proposal. I suggest that the country doesn’t need entirely new legislation on non-trial resolutions as suggested in the <a href="https://www.statecapture.org.za/site/files/announcements/673/OCR_version_-_State_Capture_Commission_Report_Part_1_Vol_I.pdf">Zondo reports</a>. </p>
<p>Rather, it should simply amend section 38 of the <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/national-prosecuting-authority-act#:%7E:text=The%20National%20Prosecuting%20Authority%20Act,provide%20for%20matters%20connected%20therewith">National Prosecuting Authority Act, 1998</a> to introduce the fully fledged anti-corruption redress system. As part of this system, there would be an anti-corruption redress body – perhaps a commission as a subset of the prosecuting authority’s existing <a href="https://www.npa.gov.za/specialised-commercial-crime-unit">Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit</a>. It would need to be staffed with the right mix of experts. Cases would be determined on the lower civil standard of proof: “a balance of probabilities”. </p>
<p>The legislative intervention should provide for administrative fines (basically civil monetary penalties). These should be a percentage of the unlawful benefit the party gained from the corrupt deal. Administrative fines are already used in the country’s <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/competition-act-guidelines-determination-administrative-penalties-prohibited-practices-17">competition</a> and <a href="https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Fourie-M-SAJELP-Paper-June-2009-Final.pdf">environmental</a> law regimes. They can improve deterrence and enhance redress. </p>
<p>The proposed commission would determine the appropriate redress measures in a given case. It would weigh factors in the “redress balance” such as the extent of the harm, repeat offending, willingness to make reparations and good faith. So, for example, there might be an agreement to defer (delay) criminal prosecution if the offender displays good faith, cooperates and meets all repayment (and other reparation) obligations. The findings of the commission would be <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/full/10.2989/CCR.2022.0001">open to review by a tribunal of record</a> – much like the competition tribunal.</p>
<p>In conclusion, the proposed anti-corruption redress system is fundamentally about the right mix of retributive and restorative justice to restore the dignity of the people of South Africa. It would help rebuild public trust in government, reduce impunity and usher in an era of enhanced integrity and accountability. Now is the time to make this happen.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199219/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lauren Kohn received funding from the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust for her Doctoral Project. </span></em></p>The culture of impunity that has lingered since the presidency of Jacob Zuma has to give way to a new era of integrity and accountability.Lauren Kohn, Scholar & Legal Expert: Administrative & Constitutional Law, Department of Public Law (UCT); Attorney of the High Court of SA; Young Research Fellow (UCT); Founder: www.SALegalAdvice.co.za, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1984192023-01-25T14:44:27Z2023-01-25T14:44:27ZAdriaan Vlok: the case for accepting the late South African politician’s apology for apartheid<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506069/original/file-20230124-24-t0mdp1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Adriaan Vlok, the late South African apartheid-era police minister. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paballo Thekiso/ AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The recent <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/community-newspaper/pe-express/former-apartheid-minister-adriaan-vlok-dies-following-short-illness-20230108">death</a> of Adriaan Vlok, the prominent South African apartheid-era law and order minister, brought the issue of political apologies for past wrongs back into the public arena. </p>
<p>It remains an emotional subject in the country, given that almost none of the leaders of the apartheid government apologised for their actions in a process set up precisely for that purpose. The <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/trc/">Truth and Reconciliation Commission</a>, created in 1995, was designed to steer South Africa through the transition from apartheid to democracy. It allowed former apartheid crime perpetrators to obtain amnesty in exchange for full cooperation with the commission. </p>
<p>Vlok’s death at the age of 85 on 8 January 2023 triggered a wave of angry commentary on social media platforms like <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/JasonKhumaloII/status/1612017071948288007">Twitter</a>. </p>
<p>He exemplifies the ongoing dilemma presented by apologies. A central member of the apartheid apparatus, he gave evidence to the truth commission in which he confessed to murder and his complicity in the bombings of the headquarters of a trade union federation and the South African Council of Churches. He was <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/trc/media/1999/9912/p991214a.htm">given amnesty</a>.</p>
<p>Years later Vlok expressed his remorse by <a href="https://khulumani.net/in-the-news/former-minister-vlok-washes-chikanes-feet/2006/08/29/">washing the feet</a> of leading anti-apartheid activist <a href="https://www.mandela.ac.za/Leadership-and-Governance/Honorary-Doctorates/Rev-Frank-Chikane-2019">Frank Chikane</a>, a man he had sought to have assassinated. </p>
<p>Washing feet is a religious ritual observed by some <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/foot-washing">Christian denominations</a>. It is derived from the Bible account of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet, and has two primary meanings: purification and showing hospitality. The ritual does not focus on cleansing but on humility.</p>
<p>I examined Vlok’s gesture in a 2017 <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19962126.2008.11864943">paper</a>, Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word: Apology as a Form of Symbolic Reparation.</p>
<p>I argued that people should be open to the transcendent value of apologies. Although apology does not fit easily into our individualistic, adversarial legal culture, it does fit into the paradigm of restorative justice. As a form of symbolic reparation, apology can be part of a package of restorative justice measures. </p>
<p>Symbolic reparations (such as an apology) have been recognised by a number of courts around the world. For example, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has ordered reparations, such as the changing of street names, to <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/collective-reparations/collective-reparations-at-the-interamerican-court-of-human-rights/10DE89956227BCF32E0F921184A51C52">honour victims</a>. In the South African murder case of S v Joyce Maluleke (unreported, 2006), Judge Bertelsmann ordered a perpetrator to apologise to a victim’s family.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-south-africas-white-leaders-shouldnt-get-into-comparative-politics-of-sin-132131">Why South Africa's white leaders shouldn't get into comparative politics of sin</a>
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<p>In my view even incomplete or insincere apologies have restorative value. Incomplete apologies can have value if the person apologising shows shame, or if the apology involves public humiliation. </p>
<p>I conclude that Vlok’s foot-washing gesture is an example of an incomplete apology with restorative results.</p>
<h2>The issue of sincerity</h2>
<p>On 15 August 2007 Vlok received a suspended sentence from the then Transvaal High Court in terms of a plea bargaining arrangement with the state for the attempt to poison Chikane <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2007-08-17-vloks-walk-to-freedom/">in 1989</a>. </p>
<p>Was there a relationship between Vlok’s apology and the plea bargain? Were commentators such as the late South African journalist <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/vlok-apology-means-nothing-20060904">Jon Qwelane</a> correct in speculating that Vlok apologised in order to receive a plea bargain? </p>
<p>This does not seem to be the case. Vlok was never charged individually. The National Prosecuting Authority charged him with four other accused (Johann van der Merwe, Chris Smith, Gert Otto and Manie van Staden) for the attempted murder of Chikane.</p>
<p>According to the plea bargaining agreement (S v Johannes Velde van der Merwe and Others), Vlok and the other accused </p>
<blockquote>
<p>assisted the state by pleading guilty in so far as it would otherwise have been difficult for the state to prove its case, since the state is not in possession of any evidence regarding the involvement of accused No 1 and No 2 (Van der Merwe and Vlok).</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Vlok’s cooperation in this case was consistent with his cooperative attitude towards the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. </p>
<p>Vlok and former police commissioner Johann Van der Merwe came forward voluntarily to assist the National Prosecuting Authority in providing information about their participation in the assassination attempt on Chikane. The resulting plea bargaining agreement listed the “sincere remorse of accused No 2 (Vlok)” as a mitigating circumstance. </p>
<p>The Pretoria High Court mentioned the foot washing and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19962126.2008.11864943">stated</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>This act of contrition must be seen against the background that it was performed voluntarily by accused No 2 (Vlok).</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Vlok’s apology</h2>
<p>It is true that Vlok failed to make adequate disclosure of his involvement in a range of other activities during his time in office, including disappearances and murders. Nevertheless, I argue in my paper that the way in which he apologised added to the sincerity of his apology. </p>
<p>The act of foot washing involves a degree of mortification. It is a vivid indicator of shame.</p>
<p>It is difficult to argue that a standardised form of apology should be adopted. Apologies are intensely personal, and context matters.</p>
<p>In Vlok’s case Chikane immediately accepted the apology. The apology in relation to Chikane can, therefore, be described as effective. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fw-de-klerk-the-last-apartheid-president-was-driven-by-pragmatism-not-idealism-164026">FW de Klerk: the last apartheid president was driven by pragmatism, not idealism</a>
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<p>To the extent that his apology was directed at all victims of apartheid, the reception is, of course, more complicated. The problem with apologies made to an infinite number of people is that it is difficult to establish the direct connection between the perpetrator and the victims. </p>
<p>Although it remains highly problematic that Vlok, and other apartheid-era cabinet ministers, never made full disclosure of their actions, it is difficult to question the sincerity of his expressions of remorse. His apology was powerful and convinced even those who were harmed by his actions. </p>
<h2>New sensibilities</h2>
<p>Vlok’s death coincides with a new wave of apologies, including that by the <a href="https://www.government.nl/latest/news/2022/12/19/government-apologises-for-the-netherlands-role-in-the-history-of-slavery#:%7E:text=In%20a%20speech%20this%20afternoon,up%20to%20the%20present%20day">Netherlands</a> for slavery. Instead of ignoring or denying prior human rights violations, many countries are publicly acknowledging these wrongs in an attempt to come to terms with the past. </p>
<p>This development has been ascribed to the global spread of a human rights culture. Or in the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14754830601098402?journalCode=cjhr20">words</a> of the Holocaust scholar, Michael Marrus, a “developing moral consensus”.</p>
<p>This is supported by trends in international law that say past human rights violations are subject to reparations, even if only symbolically.</p>
<p>Official apologies can hold great transformative power, but remain controversial. Some scholars such as <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/136980100427298?journalCode=riij20">Michel Rolph Trouillot</a> have described them as empty gestures that don’t challenge the ideologies and structures that led to the human rights violations. Rather they’re used to restore a country’s reputation or maintain the status quo. </p>
<p>A more difficult issue involves reparations. By drawing attention to an injustice, an official apology could also raise the expectation of reparation. </p>
<p>If one takes the view that there can be no true public apology without reparation, one acknowledges the ambiguity inherent in the concept of apology. In light of the inadequate reparations paid to victims of gross human rights violations, the question of the value of apology and atonement remains alive and acute.</p>
<p>Vlok’s acts of contrition can be seen as “too little too late”. But his actions seem to fall exactly within the spirit of the South African transitional arrangements, arrangements applauded almost universally at the time of the fall of apartheid.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198419/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mia Swart does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Even incomplete or insincere apologies have restorative value.Mia Swart, Senior Lecturer, Edge Hill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1908142022-12-08T13:33:02Z2022-12-08T13:33:02ZWhite teachers often talk about Black students in racially coded ways<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492368/original/file-20221028-13-t8n33a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C68%2C5084%2C3427&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Educators stereotype Black students in subtle ways.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/fourth-grade-girls-on-computers-royalty-free-image/608899871?phrase=black%20students%20classroom&adppopup=true">Jonathan Kirn via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When a white Texas middle school teacher <a href="https://www.kxan.com/news/local/pflugerville/pflugerville-teacher-who-made-inappropriate-comments-no-longer-employed-by-district/">told his students</a> in November 2022 that he was “ethnocentric” and thought his race was “superior,” he attempted to explain his position by arguing that he was hardly the only person who held such a view.</p>
<p>“Let me finish …” the teacher is seen telling his students on a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxMM-WwrNWs">now-viral video</a> as they began to push back against his remarks. “I think everybody thinks that; they’re just not honest about it.”</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Texas teacher tells his students he is racist.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The teacher in question has <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/white-teacher-at-bohls-middle-school-in-pflugerville-benched-over-viral-rant-on-superior-race">since been fired</a>. His termination is hardly surprising given that he was captured on video making blatantly racist remarks in a public school classroom. But as we discovered while performing a study at a predominantly Black school with mostly white teachers, many of them – whether consciously or unconsciously – often harbor negative racial views and stereotypes about Black students and their families. The key difference is they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00420859221119115">verbalize those negative views in less obvious ways</a> than the Texas teacher.</p>
<p>At the school we studied, the negative views were not isolated occurrences, but rather a part of a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00420859221119115">culture of coded racial stereotypes</a>, which we argue encourages the disciplining of Black students at disproportionately higher rates.</p>
<p>Our findings were published in a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00420859221119115">peer-reviewed study</a> that appeared in Urban Education in 2022. They are based on a study that began in 2015 when administrators at a predominantly Black high school asked our research team for help understanding why the predominantly white teaching staff was struggling to form positive relationships with the students. In the first part of our partnership with the school, we found that while Black students made up 89% of the student body, they represented 97% of all disciplinary infractions. Conversely, while white students made up 8% of the student population, they received only 1% of the disciplinary referrals. This early quantitative finding confirms studies from across the nation that showed that, even when controlling for rates of misbehavior and poverty, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831214541670">Black students are still disproportionately</a> disciplined compared to their white peers.</p>
<p>We are education researchers who specialize in <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=PkC_OxQAAAAJ&hl=en">cultural</a> and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Olivia-Marcucci-2156367933">racial justice</a> issues. We believe our findings shine light on how often educators hold racial biases against the students they’ve been entrusted to teach.</p>
<h2>Stereotyping was prevalent</h2>
<p>The racial biases came to light as we conducted focus groups with teachers and students to ask them about their school’s culture and experiences with classroom discipline.</p>
<p>Of the teachers who participated in the focus groups, 84% were white. During focus group discussions, 36 out of 38 teachers voiced a stereotype at least once, though some did so up to 10 times. While some teachers pushed back against stereotypes they heard, and even more often acknowledged systemic racism in the lives of their students, the teachers still frequently used stereotypes when discussing their students and families.</p>
<p>In a series of focus groups, we asked educators from the school to reflect on their experiences in the school, interacting with students, and their thoughts on the school discipline practices. We were particularly interested in hearing their thoughts on the types of infractions for which students were disciplined and how specific punishments were decided on. For example, why were some students who disrupted class sent back from the office to the classroom immediately, but others received 10 days of in-school suspension? </p>
<p>The majority of the focus group questions were not focused on race explicitly. Even so, we still noticed an undercurrent of racially coded stereotypes as the teachers reflected on the statistical trends in school discipline and on their school culture as a whole. </p>
<p>For example, in one focus group, a white teacher notes that when the then-vice principal, a Black man, went to the school as a student, “we had a much more diverse student body. So, he had an opportunity to see different types of behavior. And I think a lot of these kids that we have, the chronic misbehaviors, they don’t have that option. They’re in a class, class by class where they’re all very similar socioeconomic background, and that really makes a difference, I think. Their parents are working and are unable to monitor them. Maybe they didn’t have such a successful high school experience, so they don’t have the tools that some of the other kids – we still have a few of them, fortunate to have a number in my classes.”</p>
<p>The teacher directly connects the presence of “chronic misbehaviors” with a change in the school’s demographics. The teacher opines that in the past, when the student body was nearly equally Black and white, that Black individuals, such as the then-vice principal, in his example, could observe better behavior in school. The teacher therefore communicates an anti-Black stereotype in a coded way, implying that Black students needed white students to “see different types of behavior.”</p>
<p>In a different example, two white teachers began talking about how parents at their school didn’t care about their children. At one point, they pretended to be parents, with one of the teachers even making a joke that one of the parents completely forgot they even had a child: </p>
<p>Teacher 1: Yeah, just somebody saying, ‘Hey, you know you have a baby, right?’
Teacher 2: I do?
Teacher 1: Yeah.
Teacher 2: Oh.
Teacher 1: Oh, wooord.</p>
<p>Nothing about this interaction is racially explicit. But the teacher’s joke invokes a stereotype of Black parents as disengaged from their children’s lives by using a stereotypical African American vernacular – “wooord.” When white teachers at a predominantly Black school make statements like these, they are upholding the stereotype that Black parents lack concern for their children – even if that is not the teachers’ intention.</p>
<h2>A way of bonding</h2>
<p>Using <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691123899/interaction-ritual-chains">a theory</a> that measures the speed of bonding, we found that when teachers used anti-Black stereotypes, they often bonded with each other more quickly and effectively. Certain types of communication — often ones that happen nonverbally — can <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691123899/interaction-ritual-chains">help individuals bond with each other</a>. These bonds then make individuals feel better about themselves and their community. In the data, teachers often used nonverbal communication or noises like “uh-huh,” laughter, and conversational rhythm, while stereotyping their students. </p>
<p>For example, in the “Hey, you know you have a baby, right?” joke, both teachers laughed as a result of the joke. Just as importantly, the rest of the teachers in the room also laughed. Laughter is an important display of bonding. In other interactions, teachers used verbalizations like “mhmmm” or “This is it” to support each other as they engaged in stereotyping their students.</p>
<h2>Reform through reflection</h2>
<p>Based on what <a href="https://www.guilford.com/books/Dual-Process-Theories-of-the-Social-Mind/Sherman-Gawronski-Trope/9781462514397/contents">social psychologist Russell Fazio</a> has found, if teachers are given time to reflect on their potential biases, they have a better chance of removing those biases from their teaching. Through <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED521618">systematic and sustained professional learning</a>, teachers can become <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-019-0299-7">aware of their implicit and explicit biases and how those biases may impact their behavior</a>. This type of professional learning must be coupled with structural reforms to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17508487.2019.1579743">re-professionalize teaching</a> to achieve lasting, anti-biasing results. </p>
<p>Since our study was completed, the educators, school and district have sought to revamp their disciplinary policies and school culture, including deep discussions about how their biases might affect how they discipline students. The school has begun to use <a href="https://www.wested.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/resource-restorative-justice-in-u-s-schools-an-updated-research-review.pdf">restorative justice practices</a>, an alternative approach to discipline that focuses on humanizing individuals and repairing harm after a wrong occurs. The school hired a full-time staff person to support restorative justice. According to the current principal, in the year following, suspensions dropped by 47% in one year and chronic absenteeism dropped by 7%.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190814/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>ROWHEA ELMESKY received an internal university grant which helped fund this study. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Olivia Marcucci does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Though difficult to pinpoint, white educators often put forth stereotypes when they discuss Black students among themselves, new research has found.Rowhea Elmesky, Associate Professor of Education, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. LouisOlivia Marcucci, Assistant Professor of Education, Johns Hopkins UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1930672022-11-22T19:28:49Z2022-11-22T19:28:49ZThe criminal justice system is retraumatizing victims of violent crime<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495724/original/file-20221116-20-fgcmwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=61%2C24%2C8118%2C5432&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Support for victims must include forms of restorative justice that allows them to have their voices heard.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a split moment, violence can change our lives. We could become a target of violence in our home, school, workplace and community. You might be slapped, punched, stabbed or shot, resulting in serious injuries, trauma or even death. </p>
<p>When someone is victimized, adequate support services should be available to <a href="https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1127&context=sclr">help victims and ensure their rights</a> but, unfortunately, they rarely are in the Canadian criminal justice system. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495723/original/file-20221116-20-fy4yb0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A bald man wearing a suit and glasses speaking in parliament." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495723/original/file-20221116-20-fy4yb0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495723/original/file-20221116-20-fy4yb0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=692&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495723/original/file-20221116-20-fy4yb0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=692&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495723/original/file-20221116-20-fy4yb0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=692&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495723/original/file-20221116-20-fy4yb0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=870&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495723/original/file-20221116-20-fy4yb0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=870&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495723/original/file-20221116-20-fy4yb0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=870&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Minister of Justice David Lametti announced the appointment of a Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime in late September 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After several months of <a href="https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2022/01/17/ottawa-accused-of-failing-crime-victims-by-leaving-watchdog-job-empty.html">public criticism</a>, the federal government recently appointed a new <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/department-justice/news/2022/09/minister-of-justice-announces-new-federal-ombudsperson-for-victims-of-crime.html">Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime</a> in September. The new ombudsman will continue the work of making recommendations about systemic and emerging issues in the federal system based on concerns raised by victims.</p>
<p>The House of Commons standing committee on justice and human rights is currently studying the <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/Committees/en/JUST/StudyActivity?studyActivityId=11552971">government’s obligations to victims</a>. The study is generating an important debate on existing policies, programs and legislation that could better align the justice system with the needs of victims. </p>
<h2>Victims retraumatized</h2>
<p>In the aftermath of violence, victims typically feel <a href="https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/cjccj.51.4.473?journalCode=cjccj">pain, shock, fear, grief and anger</a> as a result of its physical, psychological, spiritual and financial impacts.</p>
<p>The 2019 criminal victimization survey from Statistics Canada found that <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2021001/article/00014-eng.htm">2.6 million people</a> over the age of 15 were victims of a violent incident including sexual assault, physical assault and robbery. </p>
<p>In addition, there is a <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2022001/article/00013-eng.htm">disproportionate impact of violent victimization</a> on Black and Indigenous people, young women, sexual minorities and people with disabilities. With many intersecting identities, marginalized people face a higher risk of violence because of racism, sexism, homophobia and ableism.</p>
<p>However, only about <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2021001/article/00014-eng.htm">a quarter of victims of violence reported the incidents</a> to police because most had little confidence they’d be taken seriously and feared being re-traumatized by the legal process.</p>
<p>The criminal justice system is ineffective at addressing the harm done to victims because it centres around punishing the accused perpetrators of violence. The system does not adequately support the victim’s healing. Instead, it uses them to punish people the Crown believes can be found guilty. </p>
<p>In 2018, the Department of Justice completed a review of Canada’s criminal justice system and found that <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/tcjs-tsjp/fr-rf/docs/fr.pdf">victims are disillusioned</a> and feel re-victimized by the current approach. These findings align with many <a href="https://www.womenatthecentre.com/initiatives/declarations-of-truth/#:%7E:text=Declarations%20of%20Truth%20is%20a,justice%20for%20sexual%20violence%20survivors.">declarations from victims of sexual violence</a> about their experiences with the legal system where they are blamed and shamed for the harm done, have little agency in the court proceedings and receive limited access to counselling and compensation. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495725/original/file-20221116-25-s4cnhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two women sit on a couch. One is comforting the other." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495725/original/file-20221116-25-s4cnhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495725/original/file-20221116-25-s4cnhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495725/original/file-20221116-25-s4cnhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495725/original/file-20221116-25-s4cnhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495725/original/file-20221116-25-s4cnhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495725/original/file-20221116-25-s4cnhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495725/original/file-20221116-25-s4cnhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The justice system does not adequately support the victim’s healing because it centres around punishing the accused perpetrators of violence.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Retributive justice not the answer</h2>
<p>Increased policing and prisons are <a href="https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1664-we-do-this-til-we-free-us">not a solution</a> to these issues because they can lead to further violence and exclusion for the most vulnerable people in society. If an accused person is found guilty of a violent offence, they will <a href="https://nationalmagazine.ca/en-ca/articles/law/in-depth/2019/canada-s-prisons-are-failing">likely be sentenced to prison</a> where they often become angrier, more violent and excluded, putting more people in harm’s way. </p>
<p>Complex social and economic inequalities also play a role <a href="https://global.oup.com/ushe/product/the-roots-of-danger-9780190215231?cc=ca&lang=en&">in violence</a>. But conditions of racism and poverty continue to be ignored by the state. </p>
<p>Instead, the default responses continue to be <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/432/SECU/Reports/RP11434998/securp06/securp06-e.pdf">hyper policing</a> and <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/canada-failing-black-indigenous-prisoners-as-overrepresentation-persists-report-1.6135807">mass incarceration</a> of disadvantaged people. Black people are <a href="https://www.ohrc.on.ca/sites/default/files/A%20Disparate%20Impact%20Second%20interim%20report%20on%20the%20TPS%20inquiry%20executive%20summary.pdf">20 times</a> more likely to be killed by the police than a white person in Toronto. Indigenous Peoples make up around five per cent of Canada’s population, yet account for <a href="https://www.oci-bec.gc.ca/cnt/rpt/annrpt/annrpt20212022-eng.aspx">32 per cent</a> of the federal prison population. </p>
<p>Instead of addressing the root causes of violence, retributive justice perpetuates a vicious cycle where people are punished, stigmatized with a criminal record and released back into communities with limited support. The system dehumanizes and sets up criminalized people to fail, without adequate housing, employment and social support.</p>
<h2>Restorative justice</h2>
<p>Victims’ needs typically start with not wanting the harm to happen to anyone else. <a href="http://www.jpp.org/documents/forms/JPP9_2/RuthMorris.pdf">Victims want answers</a> to their questions. They want to know why the harm happened and what will be done to <a href="https://www.victimsfirst.gc.ca/res/pub/gfo-ore/pdf/RestorativeJustice.pdf">repair the damage</a> so the person who caused the violence can take responsibility and make changes in their lives. Reparations, either symbolically with an apology or financially, can go a long way to help victims recover. </p>
<p><a href="https://cjiwr.com/about-us/what-is-restorative-justice/">Restorative justice (RJ)</a> is an alternative approach that uses dialogue to address violence where victims, people who caused harm and community members come to an agreement on what should be done to reconcile and transform the root causes of the problem for individual, cultural and societal change. </p>
<p>RJ allows victims to have their voice heard and to hold people who cause harm accountable by making amends and changing behaviours. The community also sets up a broader support system to prevent future victimization using education and social networks. </p>
<p>But restorative justice programs need co-operation and funding from the criminal justice system and the government to scale up initiatives across the country.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495717/original/file-20221116-2576-tvx7u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman places her hand on a man's shoulder. Other people sit around the man." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495717/original/file-20221116-2576-tvx7u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495717/original/file-20221116-2576-tvx7u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495717/original/file-20221116-2576-tvx7u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495717/original/file-20221116-2576-tvx7u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495717/original/file-20221116-2576-tvx7u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495717/original/file-20221116-2576-tvx7u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495717/original/file-20221116-2576-tvx7u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Restorative justice is an alternative approach that uses dialogue to address violence.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2015, the federal government adopted the <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/annualstatutes/2015_13/page-1.html">Victims Bill of Rights Act</a>, which gave victims of crime the right to information, protection, participation and restitution. </p>
<p>However, a 2020 <a href="https://www.victimsfirst.gc.ca/res/pub/prcvbr-reccdv/index.html">progress report</a> from the ombudsman found that implementation of the bill has been sporadic and inconsistent because it has no strategic action plan, limited training opportunities for justice officials, poor data collection measures, little public awareness or outreach about victims; rights and a lack of funding for restorative justice.</p>
<p>The bill also left out the most important right: support services for victims at a standard level throughout the country. Victims’ rights are not enforceable by law and the legislation only provides a <a href="https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/2022-vctm-cmplnt-rsltn-mchnsms/index-en.aspx">complaints process</a> to remedy the situation. </p>
<p>The justice and human rights committee is scheduled to release a report next year. Hopefully, the federal government will make the necessary reforms to increase funding for provincial and territorial governments that will allow them to administer victim services and restorative justice. </p>
<p>The federal government also needs one office for victims that works across departments and jurisdictions to implement a renewed <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/cp-pm/eval/rep-rap/11/fvs-sfv/p2.html">victims’ strategy</a>, one that goes beyond small pilot projects and public education about victims’ role in the criminal justice system. The office should engage regularly with non-governmental organizations and grassroots collectives so the voices of victims are heard and changes are made.</p>
<p>Providing victims with dignity, respect and fairness requires more than words. It must include real actions to support their needs, providing more options for restorative justice and changing the way systems run to be more human-centred and to uphold rights.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193067/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeffrey Bradley is affiliated with the Criminalization and Punishment Education Project which brings together critical criminologists, students, researchers, community members, front-line workers, and those affected by criminalization and punishment, to carry out such public education, activism, and research in the hopes of creating social change.</span></em></p>Victims of violence are often retraumatized by a legal process that puts prosecuting the accused ahead of supporting the victim.Jeffrey Bradley, Ph.D. Candidate, Legal Studies, Carleton UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1922282022-11-02T12:27:56Z2022-11-02T12:27:56ZWhy schools’ going back to ‘normal’ won’t work for students of color<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491961/original/file-20221026-1498-z5dr49.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C12%2C8627%2C5497&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students of color have long needed more from schools than is typically provided.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/young-indigenous-navajo-young-teacher-checking-her-royalty-free-image/1413335596">THEPALMER/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>National test results released in September 2022 show <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/24/us/math-reading-scores-pandemic.html">unprecedented losses</a> in <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/">math and reading scores</a> since the pandemic disrupted schooling for millions of children.</p>
<p>In response, educational leaders and policymakers across the country are <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2022/05/13/restoring-pandemic-losses-will-require-major-changes-in-schools-and-classrooms-superintendents-say/">eager to reverse these trends</a> and catch these students back up to where they would have been.</p>
<p>But this renewed concern seems to overlook a crucial fact: Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, many schools were failing to adequately serve children of color. As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=aFMqdpIAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">scholar of racial equity</a> in K-12 education, I see an opportunity to go beyond getting students caught up. Rather than focus only on trying to close pandemic-related gaps, schools could seek to more substantially improve the quality of education they offer, particularly for students of color, if they want to achieve equitable and sustainable results.</p>
<h2>Studying schools</h2>
<p>For more than a decade, I’ve been conducting research on how schools can successfully serve Black and Latino students. Most of this work has focused on New York City, but what I have learned is critical for any school.</p>
<p>In one long-term <a href="https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/research-alliance/evaluating-expanded-success-initiative">study of a citywide initiative</a> targeted at improving outcomes for Black and Latino boys, my colleagues and I collected data across more than 100 schools and through interviews with over 500 school leaders, teachers and students. </p>
<p>Based on this work, I’d like to highlight four critical conditions to improve the success and well-being of students of color.</p>
<h2>1. Classrooms that reflect the students they serve</h2>
<p>Research shows <a href="https://cepa.stanford.edu/content/causal-effects-cultural-relevance-evidence-ethnic-studies-curriculum">students do better overall</a> when their teachers and <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/10919/84024">the books students read</a> reflect their race, ethnicity and cultures. Yet statistics show that seldom happens.</p>
<p>Children’s books <a href="https://readingspark.wordpress.com/2019/06/19/picture-this-diversity-in-childrens-books-2018-infographic/">depict nonhuman characters</a>, like dogs and bears, almost three times as often as they <a href="https://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/literature-resources/ccbc-diversity-statistics/">depict characters who are Black</a>, four times as often than Asian characters, five times as often than Hispanic characters, and nearly 30 times as often than Indigenous characters. </p>
<p>Moreover, while the teacher workforce remains nearly <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2020/2020103/index.asp">80% white</a>, research shows that students who had <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w25254">teachers of the same race</a> had better chances of graduating from high school and enrolling in college. </p>
<h2>2. Connection, not control</h2>
<p>Students of color are more than twice as likely to be <a href="https://ocrdata.ed.gov/estimations/2017-2018">arrested at school</a> as their white counterparts. And Black children who behave in the same ways as white children are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02796015.2011.12087730">twice as likely</a> to be suspended for the same actions. </p>
<p>Many schools have established <a href="https://www.weareteachers.com/restorative-justice/">restorative justice programs</a>, which emphasize repairing harm versus doling out punishment. These efforts can help <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010096">shift teachers’ roles</a> from controlling student behavior to forming connections with young people. </p>
<p>These connections can also be built outside formal classroom environments. Activities such as peer mentoring groups and student-led clubs are good opportunities for cultivating student-faculty connections. In those environments, students are more likely to <a href="https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/research-alliance/research/publications/strategies-improving-school-culture">feel comfortable being themselves</a> and expressing their feelings about both learning and other issues relevant to their lives.</p>
<h2>3. Equitable access to academic challenge</h2>
<p>Teachers <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2017.04.001">expect less of their Black and Latino students</a> than they do of white and Asian classmates. Black and Latino students are also underrepresented in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15210960.2020.1728275">gifted and talented programs</a> and less likely to be placed in such advanced coursework as <a href="https://edtrust.org/resource/inequities-in-advanced-coursework/">eighth-grade algebra</a> or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/bejeap-2018-0189">Advanced Placement courses</a> in high school.</p>
<p>When students have less access to rigorous learning opportunities, it can limit their progress in other areas as well. Students are <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/coe_cpb.pdf">more likely to enroll in college</a> when they have taken four years of math and science. Yet Black and Latino students are less likely to be exposed to <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/stem-course-taking.pdf">more advanced math and science courses, such as calculus and physics</a>.</p>
<h2>4. Teacher preparation and support</h2>
<p>Teachers need strong preparation to serve an <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/raceindicators/index.asp">increasingly racially and ethnically</a> diverse student population. But many teacher education programs <a href="https://doi.org/10.7249/RR2990">are not preparing teachers</a> to meet the needs of the students they teach, particularly in schools that primarily serve students of color. </p>
<p>Teachers are required to have ongoing training to keep their <a href="https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/all-teachers-go-through-recertification-how-can-we-make-the-process-better/2017/12">subject-matter knowledge up to date</a>. Similarly, school districts could provide ongoing support for teachers to present broader depictions of history and society as part of developing <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654315582066">culturally relevant classrooms</a>, which draw on students’ backgrounds, identities and experiences. </p>
<p>The current political climate has become <a href="https://time.com/6192708/critical-race-theory-teachers-racism/">hostile to educators</a> who broach topics of race and racism. Teachers may call on principals and other education leaders to shield them from <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/06/16/teacher-resignations-firings-culture-wars/">backlash</a> against exposing students to historical or current examples of racial injustice.</p>
<p>As schools seek to address pandemic-related gaps, there is now a unique opportunity to reimagine public education. For many students of color, business as usual wasn’t enough. Let’s learn from where we’ve been and aim for better than a return to normal.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192228/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adriana Villavicencio receives funding from the Spencer Foundation and the William T. Grant Foundation. </span></em></p>A scholar explains why schools can’t focus only on closing pandemic-related learning gaps.Adriana Villavicencio, Assistant Professor of Education, University of California, IrvineLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1854662022-07-10T12:48:08Z2022-07-10T12:48:08ZTwo-eared listening is essential for understanding restorative justice in Canada<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471226/original/file-20220627-18-zz4cu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C0%2C5309%2C2937&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Two-eared listening is a critical element for Western advocates of restorative justice.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Restorative justice was introduced in the western world in the late 1970s as a way to rethink crime and punishment. It’s an approach to criminal justice that sees <a href="https://livingjusticepress.org/product/little-book-of-restorative-justice/">crime as a violation of people and relationships</a> and makes it the obligation of those responsible to put right the wrongs committed. </p>
<p>In time, restorative justice grew to include nurturing relationships and is now also practiced in education, community, employment and environmental contexts.</p>
<p>Indigenous communities around the world <a href="https://cssp.org/2019/11/honoring-the-global-indigenous-roots-of-restorative-justice/">have always lived in alignment with what we now call restorative justice</a> — it is tied to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE_0OPp6z0o&t=223s">Indigenous worldviews and influences all aspects of life</a>. When understood holistically, restorative justice has the incredible potential to support healthy community life.</p>
<p>And while <a href="https://www.euforumrj.org/en/questions-almost-50-years-restorative-justice-canada">advocates of restorative justice</a> may <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26405722">acknowledge its Indigenous roots</a>, meaningful collaborative dialogue and leadership with Indigenous people is often lacking. </p>
<p>Why are Indigenous Peoples’ worldviews not more involved in growing restorative justice’s approach? Could it be that they once offered insights, but a willingness to listen was missing?</p>
<h2>Two-eared listening</h2>
<p>At a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=2220198291528659">National Restorative Justice Week panel in 2018</a>, Chief Mi’sel Joe (one of the authors of this piece) from Miawpukek First Nation said, “If you want to know about restorative justice, just ask.”</p>
<p>Chief Joe’s invitation challenged panel attendees by forcing them to acknowledge how white-centric the field was. It encouraged people to question how a western perspective of restorative justice might be contributing to colonization. </p>
<p>True to his word, Chief Joe was willing to answer the question. So we embarked on planning an event, <a href="https://www.twoearedlistening.com"><em>Two-Eared Listening for Deeper Understanding: Restorative Justice in N.L.</em></a>, where Indigenous people would lead attendees towards a deeper collective understanding of restorative justice. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/respect-for-indigenous-knowledge-must-lead-nature-conservation-efforts-in-canada-156273">Respect for Indigenous knowledge must lead nature conservation efforts in Canada</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>From the start, our academic approach was challenged and we learned to listen deeply. After watching a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJcjf1nUckc">video clip</a> of Mi’kmaw Elder Albert Marshall explaining the concept of two-eyed seeing, Chief Joe shares:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“What we are doing is not two-eyed seeing, but two-eared listening. At the heart of justice is listening. Before you can restore justice, you need to listen to the stories of injustice.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>We realized that what we were being taught, and what we had been learning, was encompassed in this term two-eared listening.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VBx9K1TiSaQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Chief Joe talks with Maritime’s [EDIT] magazine.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Two-eared listening is based on the idea of learning and understanding, a willingness to suspend judgment and the desire to communicate respectfully in a way that might challenge previously held beliefs or assumptions. Chief Joe says: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“When we talk about justice and injustice, that concept is not just spoken words. Injustice is about hurt and pain, so that brings in parts of our body, including the heart and soul. [This talking] includes body language [and] knowing someone is listening and caring. If you are listening from your core, you will understand the telling of these stories of justice and injustice.” </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Restorative justice in Newfoundland and Labrador</h2>
<p>After over two years of planning and discussing restorative justice we held a three-day event in November 2021. Every component was led by Indigenous people and two-eared listening was the key focus. </p>
<p>The event was a technology-free space that allowed people to be present without distractions. Attendees practised two-eared listening by being open to receiving new learning, suspending judgment, listening with intention <a href="https://www.since1872.ca/active-sections/1-news/what-canada-needs-is-conciliation-not-reconciliation/">and purposefully engaging in (re)conciliation</a>.</p>
<p>Each day began with Elders smudging, <a href="https://www.nunavutnews.com/uncategorized/healing-through-the-qulliq/">lighting the <em>kudlik</em></a> (a traditional lamp used by Inuit on the coast of Labrador) and offering prayers. The event featured insights and teachings from Elders and musicians, community leaders who presented contemporary realities and sessions that focused on education, community and justice.</p>
<p>Elders shared stories and reflections, and the event concluded with prayers and blessings followed by a meal and a <a href="https://www.twoearedlistening.com/mide-wiigwas-the-giveaway"><em>mide-wiigwas</em></a>, a Mi’kmaw ceremony of gift exchange. </p>
<p>As participants and presenters left the gathering, we heard repeatedly, “We need to do this again!” and planning has already begun for future events. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two hands which are filled with words defining restorative justice" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471227/original/file-20220627-24-n4u1dc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471227/original/file-20220627-24-n4u1dc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471227/original/file-20220627-24-n4u1dc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471227/original/file-20220627-24-n4u1dc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471227/original/file-20220627-24-n4u1dc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471227/original/file-20220627-24-n4u1dc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471227/original/file-20220627-24-n4u1dc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">It is imperative that Indigenous people lead restorative justice conversations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Two-eared listening paved the way for deep listening, which is a <a href="https://www.unodc.org/e4j/data/_university_uni_/truth_and_reconciliation_commissions_restorative_justice_peacemaking_criminology_and_development.html?lng=en">critical part of truth-telling in the restorative justice process</a>. But it’s just the beginning; truth must be followed by action and take on new meaning, otherwise current conditions will remain unchanged. </p>
<p>As restorative justice continues to be developed and practised in western contexts, it is imperative that Indigenous people lead the conversations and non-Indigenous people listen with two ears. In this way, the load of (re)conciliation can be carried together “<a href="https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/iipj/article/view/8215">in a good way</a>.” </p>
<p>Two-eared listening is a critical element for western advocates of restorative justice. Acknowledging the Indigenous roots of restorative justice is not enough. Authentic relationships that allow for reciprocal engagement and leadership that look at and listen to the past, present and future are required — not just for the healing of the Nations, but for the well-being of all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185466/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dorothy Vaandering works for Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. She receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Department of Justice and Public Safety of NL. She is affiliated with Relationships First: Restorative Justice Consortium, NL. Two Eared Listening for Deeper Understanding: Restorative Justice in NL is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Memorial University’s Office of Public Engagement.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rosemary Ricciardelli receives funding from the Canadian Institute of Health Research and the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sulaimon Giwa receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). He is a member of the SSHRC Advisory Committee to Address Anti-Black Racism in Research and Research Training Programs.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sylvia Moore receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chief Mi’sel Joe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Two-eared listening is based on the idea of learning and understanding, a willingness to be suspend judgement and the desire to communicate respectfully.Chief Mi’sel Joe, Newfoundland District Chief for the Mi’kmaq Grand Council | Research Partner, Indigenous KnowledgeDorothy Vaandering, Professor, Restorative Justice Education, Social Studies, Curriculum Teaching and Learning, Memorial University of NewfoundlandRosemary Ricciardelli, Professor, School of Maritime Studies | Research Chair in Safety, Security, and Wellness, Memorial University of NewfoundlandSulaimon Giwa, Assistant Professor, Social Work | Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs, Memorial University of NewfoundlandSylvia Moore, Associate Professor, School of Arctic and Subarctic Studies, Memorial University of NewfoundlandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1845232022-06-16T20:48:43Z2022-06-16T20:48:43ZWhen health care goes wrong: It’s time for transparency in patient safety<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469340/original/file-20220616-16-sfv7gm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=75%2C150%2C3391%2C2487&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Patient safety incidents are the third leading cause of death in Canada.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The COVID-19 crisis has both <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/canadians-becoming-more-divided-over-covid-19-and-politics-survey-says-1.5846868">divided</a> and <a href="https://nationalpost.com/health/after-two-years-of-covid-pandemic-canadians-want-changes-to-health-system-poll">galvanized</a> Canadians on health care. While the last three years have presented new challenges to health-care systems across the country, the pandemic has also exacerbated existing challenges, most notably the high levels of errors and mistreatment documented in Canadian health care. </p>
<p>According to a <a href="https://www.patientsafetyinstitute.ca/en/toolsResources/PolicyFrameworkforPatientSafetyCanada/Documents/PolicyFramework%20Document%20ENG%20FINAL.pdf#search=medical%20errors%20mistreatment">2019 report from the Canadian Patient Safety Institute</a>, Canada was already facing a public health crisis prior to the pandemic: a crisis of patient safety. As the report details, patient safety incidents are the third leading cause of death in Canada, following cancer and heart disease. </p>
<p>Few studies calculate national data on this topic, but a 2013 report found that patient safety events resulted in just under <a href="https://www.patientsafetyinstitute.ca/en/About/Documents/The%20Case%20for%20Investing%20in%20Patient%20Safety.pdf">28,000 deaths</a>. Many Canadians who have experienced these errors have <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/frightening-broken-needle-left-in-woman-s-body-among-harrowing-tales-of-medical-errors-in-canada-1.5410613?cache=%3FautoPlay%3Dtrue%3Fot%3DAjaxLayout%3FcontactForm%3Dtrue">shared their experiences with media</a> in an effort to raise awareness and demand change. </p>
<h2>Converging crises</h2>
<p>The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has created a moment of dual crises. First, the pre-existing crisis of patient safety, and second, health care overall is now at a breaking point after three years of COVID-19, according to health-care workers. </p>
<p>Edmonton physician Dr. Darren Markland, for example, recently closed his kidney specialist practice after making a few “profound mistakes.” In an <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8889103/covid-burnout-destroyed-health-workers/">interview with Global News</a>, he explains he could no longer work at the current pace. </p>
<p><a href="https://bc.ctvnews.ca/wave-of-health-care-resignations-in-northern-b-c-as-calls-grow-for-audit-1.5923163">He is not alone in this decision</a>. Across the country, there have been waves of resignations in health care, leaving some areas struggling with a system that is “<a href="https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-it-is-what-it-is-the-quiet-progressive-death-of-albertas-health-care-system">degrading, increasingly unsafe, and often without dignity</a>.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A person in scrubs, a face mask and a hair covering, with a stethoscope are their neck, sits alone in a row of folding chairs with head in hand" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469179/original/file-20220616-24-1a5dua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=613%2C48%2C5877%2C4242&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469179/original/file-20220616-24-1a5dua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469179/original/file-20220616-24-1a5dua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469179/original/file-20220616-24-1a5dua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469179/original/file-20220616-24-1a5dua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469179/original/file-20220616-24-1a5dua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469179/original/file-20220616-24-1a5dua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Health care is now at a breaking point, according to health-care workers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While COVID-19’s sudden disruption to health care delivery has been a shock to many health practitioners and the public, its <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/canada-s-health-care-system-is-collapsing-around-us-warns-cma-president-1.5948416?cid=sm:trueanthem:ctvnews:twittermanualpost&taid=62aa3c275996a20001d8df2f&utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+New+Content+(Feed)&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter">impact falls especially heavily</a> on what was an <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/why-canadas-hospital-capacity-was-so-easily-overwhelmed-by-the-covid-pandemic">already overburdened and under-resourced health-care system</a>. COVID-19 continues to <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-050380">drain practitioner stamina and erode patient well-being</a>, contributing to the under-recognized, but growing undercurrent of care failures. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/patient-aggression-and-physician-burnout-the-makings-of-a-human-resources-crisis-in-health-care-175017">Patient aggression and physician burnout: The makings of a human resources crisis in health care</a>
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<hr>
<p>Further, as made clear in British Columbia’s 2020 <a href="https://engage.gov.bc.ca/app/uploads/sites/613/2020/11/In-Plain-Sight-Summary-Report.pdf">In Plain Sight Report</a>, Indigenous patients, particularly Indigenous women, are often at the forefront of this crisis because system failures intersect with racism and discrimination. As the high profile case of <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/joyce-echaquan-systemic-racism-quebec-government-1.6196038">Joyce Echaquan’s</a> death in a Québec hospital has revealed, the intersection of health-care errors and racism is a reality across the country. </p>
<h2>Opportunity for change</h2>
<p>With crisis comes opportunity for change. The challenges identified above have two elements in common: a lack of transparency and the erosion of trust. Deconstructing the culture of secrecy that prevents Canadians from knowing the realities of their health-care system must be a central part of meaningful change to rebuild and maintain trust. </p>
<p>Why is there so much secrecy in health care? Across Canada, current legislation, such as <a href="https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96124_01#section51">Section 51 of B.C.’s Evidence Act (1996)</a>, extends legal privilege to quality and safety reviews, <a href="https://www.longwoods.com/content/26811/healthcare-quarterly/legal-privilege-legislation-consequences-for-patient-safety">leading to further harm for many patients, families and health-care providers</a>. The intentional isolation, silencing and exclusion after incidents of harm undermines trust, prevents learning and impedes opportunities to heal and recover for all those involved. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/high-rates-of-covid-19-burnout-could-lead-to-shortage-of-health-care-workers-166476">High rates of COVID-19 burnout could lead to shortage of health-care workers</a>
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<p>While the issues of accountability regarding the COVID-19 crisis are somewhat different, the impact in terms of trust is similar. Leaders in Canada and around the world <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/road-ahead-jason-kenney-alberta-covid-politics-1.5818058">politicized the pandemic</a> in various ways, often <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/covid-pandemic-leaders-behaviour-damage-1.6315350">while flouting the rules themselves</a>. </p>
<h2>Transparency and accountability</h2>
<p>The lack of transparency and accountability must be resolved. Patients, families, communities and health care providers at all levels must have a reliable way of knowing the extent of the challenges we are facing — whether that be with respect to the recent pandemic crisis, the decades-old patient safety crisis or the ongoing impact of racism and discrimination in health care across the country. </p>
<p>Simple, direct accounting of both numbers and stories must be widely available if there is a possibility of building momentum to effect change and rebuild trust in the health care system as a whole.</p>
<p>Increasing transparency is one vital step forward. However, there are also other ways we can further rebuild relations and trust in health care through processes that promote healing for all of those affected. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Pou hihiri, Pou o te aroha (Healing and learning from harm) is a restorative justice project in New Zealand.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, New Zealand has had significant success in <a href="https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/restorative-justice/research/health/restorative-practice-and-surgical-mesh">implementing restorative justice processes</a> following health care harm. This kind of process requires a shift in thinking away from, “What happened and who is to blame?” to “Who has been harmed and what are their needs?”</p>
<p>We can move forward from this moment of crisis in a way that promotes <a href="https://doi.org/10.5553/TIJRJ.000096">just relations of care, concern and dignity</a>. We can move forward in a way that cultivates trust in our beloved, but beleaguered, public health-care system. Restorative justice practices provide an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rRhculNHVg">avenue to do so</a>, which we hope can offer a foundation for action.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184523/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fiona MacDonald receives funding from the Michael Smith Foundation, The BC Law Foundation and SSHRC. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Allison Kooijman has received research funding from BCPSQC and Health Research BC.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carolyn Canfield receives funding from the Innovation Support Unit, UBC Family Practice and teaching fees from UBC Faculty of Medicine. Unpaid volunteer with patient and professional networks to advance patient safety in Canada and internationally.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nelly Oelke receives funding from CIHR, Health Research BC, UBC Health, RCCbc, Interior Tri-Universities Coalition, Foundation for Advancing Family Medicine, The College of Family Physicians of Canada, Mitacs, BCPSQC, Doctors of BC, and SSHRC . </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Robson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Patient safety incidents were already a leading cause of death in Canada. With that crisis converging with the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic, health care is being pushed to a breaking point.Fiona MacDonald, Assistant Professor, Political Science, University of Northern British ColumbiaAllison Kooijman, Patient Safety Advocate and PhD Student, Faculty of Health and Social Development, School of Nursing, University of British ColumbiaCarolyn Canfield, Citizen-patient and Adjunct Professor, UBC Department of Family Practice, University of British ColumbiaNelly Oelke, Associate professor, School of Nursing, University of British ColumbiaRobert Robson, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1576012021-03-23T03:37:42Z2021-03-23T03:37:42ZAlmost 90% of sexual assault victims do not go to police — this is how we can achieve justice for survivors<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391036/original/file-20210323-13-qrzg8x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Monday night, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/4corners/dont-ask,-dont-tell/13268122">Four Corners</a> investigated how Brittany Higgins’s alleged rape at Parliament House was kept quiet for almost two years. </p>
<p>Once again, it highlighted the huge barriers to justice faced by victims of sexual assault. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1373931272284762117"}"></div></p>
<p>This comes barely a week after tens of thousands of Australians marched, demanding justice and an end to the harassment and mistreatment of women within federal parliament and beyond. </p>
<p>With sexual violence in the media spotlight on a daily basis, we need to reflect on how far we have come — and what still needs to be done — to achieve justice for victim-survivors.</p>
<h2>Almost 90% of women don’t go to police</h2>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/personal-safety-australia/2016">Australian Bureau of Statistics</a>, one in five Australian women and one in 20 men have experienced sexual assault since the age of 15. Most assaults occur in private spaces, and most are against women by a man known to them. </p>
<p>Yet, almost <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/0375553f-0395-46cc-9574-d54c74fa601a/aihw-fdv-5.pdf.aspx?inline=true">nine in ten women</a> (87%) do not contact the police.</p>
<p>Many <a href="https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/cjwl.29.1.36">are worried</a> their experience won’t be taken seriously. They also worry they will face repercussions, whether personally, professionally or from the perpetrator themselves, if they report the assault.</p>
<h2>What survivors want</h2>
<p>According to Australian research, <a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/INFORMIT.242732698194592">victim-survivors say they want</a> to have their experience heard, to have the wrong against them acknowledged, and to know that something will be done to stop the perpetrator from harming others. </p>
<p>Sadly, we know often the opposite occurs. Whether it is workplaces and other organisations responding to sexual harassment and/or sexual assault, or <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/653101">formal responses</a> in our criminal justice system, victims are often left feeling silenced and sidelined. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sexual-assault-what-can-you-do-if-you-dont-want-to-make-a-formal-report-to-police-155948">Sexual assault: what can you do if you don't want to make a formal report to police?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But a formal report to police is not the only option. There are alternative ways a victim-survivor can either seek support or talk about what happened to them. There’s a <a href="http://www.1800respect.org.au">national helpline</a>, and sexual assault counselling services in every state and territory.</p>
<p>Some states also have an option for victims to make an anonymous or confidential informal report to police. Importantly, <a href="https://theconversation.com/sexual-assault-what-can-you-do-if-you-dont-want-to-make-a-formal-report-to-police-155948">research shows</a> a positive experience making an informal report can encourage a victim-survivor to report formally.</p>
<p>Another option, currently under consideration by the Victorian Law Reform Commission, is <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-i-had-to-say-mattered-how-can-we-provide-justice-for-sexual-assault-victims-beyond-criminal-trials-150075">restorative justice</a>. In broad terms, this allows a victim and a perpetrator to meet with expert support to acknowledge the impacts of the crime and find a way to repair the harm. </p>
<h2>Reforming laws around consent</h2>
<p>Of course, these alternative ways of responding to sexual assault do not mean we should ignore the formal criminal justice processes. There are ways to improve it — and the last several weeks have demonstrated the urgent need to do so.</p>
<p>Many measures are needed, and one of them is <a href="https://rasara.org/rapelawreform">reform to consent law</a>. Criminal law is left to the states and territories, and so, confusingly, there are many definitions of consent across Australia. </p>
<p>In response to the confusion, as well as the low threshold for accused persons to claim they had a reasonable belief there was consent, advocates, academics and survivors are calling for affirmative consent laws. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-law-doesnt-go-far-enough-to-legislate-affirmative-consent-nsw-now-has-a-chance-to-get-it-right-125719">Australian law doesn't go far enough to legislate affirmative consent. NSW now has a chance to get it right</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Affirmative consent requires consent to be actively given by actions and/or words before, and continuously throughout, a sexual act. Under such laws, consent <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1748895819880953">cannot be inferred</a> from the behaviour of another person, such as what they were wearing or that they (supposedly) flirted with the perpetrator prior to the rape. Instead, a perpetrator must show they took active and reasonable steps to make sure the other person was consenting. </p>
<p>Yet, most Australian states do not currently require a person to take such active steps to determine another’s consent. Both the <a href="https://www.lawreform.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/Publications/Reports/Report%20148.pdf">New South Wales</a> and <a href="https://www.qlrc.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/654958/qlrc-report-78-final-web.pdf">Queensland</a> Law Reform Commissions recently failed to recommend the inclusion of active steps in proposed rape law changes.</p>
<h2>More education for police, juries</h2>
<p>There is a host of other concrete changes that can improve justice for victims of sexual assault. </p>
<p>Other possible measures include greater <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0093854820921201">training for police</a> investigating sexual assaults. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Police on patrol in Melbourne." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391041/original/file-20210323-15-4qz2kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391041/original/file-20210323-15-4qz2kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391041/original/file-20210323-15-4qz2kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391041/original/file-20210323-15-4qz2kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391041/original/file-20210323-15-4qz2kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391041/original/file-20210323-15-4qz2kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391041/original/file-20210323-15-4qz2kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There are alternatives to making a formal report to police, but improvements to the way police handle sexual assault are also needed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is also independent victim legal representation in sexual assault trials, initiatives to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1365712716655168?icid=int.sj-abstract.similar-articles.1">reduce the trauma</a> of giving evidence for victim-survivors, along with inclusion of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1350/ijep.2005.9.4.239?casa_token=AgI0JWo2PZIAAAAA:LYj_yoBXL6EmlFJ1doNFMlmdNpxF6Bd0IogC2KGTDWBRbcs633yJ8hRGsCDnkYP2wz6AAwyxO4oxZbk">expert testimony</a> on the nature of sexual violence, and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1365712718807225?icid=int.sj-abstract.similar-articles.3">education for potential jury members</a>. </p>
<h2>Changing our broader culture</h2>
<p>The ongoing national public conversation about sexual violence has made a further problem abundantly clear. </p>
<p>Too often bystanders, who had an opportunity to either intervene or provide support to a victim, <a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-metoo-we-need-bystander-action-to-prevent-sexual-violence-91741">do nothing</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Protesters at the March 4 Justice in Hobart." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391039/original/file-20210323-19-6iwcgi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391039/original/file-20210323-19-6iwcgi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391039/original/file-20210323-19-6iwcgi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391039/original/file-20210323-19-6iwcgi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391039/original/file-20210323-19-6iwcgi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391039/original/file-20210323-19-6iwcgi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391039/original/file-20210323-19-6iwcgi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tens of thousands of Australians marched on March 15 to call for justice for victim-survivors.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rob Blakers/ AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The National Community Attitudes Survey on Violence Against Women <a href="https://20ian81kynqg38bl3l3eh8bf-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/The-2017-NCAS-key-findings.mp4">shows us</a> many Australians blame victims, minimise abuse, and excuse the actions of perpetrators. </p>
<p>We can all do better to educate ourselves on <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-respond-to-an-allegation-of-sexual-assault-45333">how to respond supportively</a> if a colleague, friend or loved one discloses that they are a victim of sexual violence. We can also speak up and challenge victim-blaming attitudes when we see them, whether it is at the office, at the sports club, at the pub, or at a family BBQ. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rape-culture-why-our-community-attitudes-to-sexual-violence-matter-31750">Rape culture: why our community attitudes to sexual violence matter</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Sex and respectful relationships <a href="https://rasara.org/relationships-and-sex-education-project">education</a> needs to start early, be consistent, inclusive, positive about sex and sexuality, and promote consent as a normal practice in all our interactions with others. </p>
<h2>Modelling respect</h2>
<p>But if the past few months have taught us anything, it is the importance of leadership that models respect: both for victim-survivors and for women generally. </p>
<p>Sadly, the best laws and the best prevention education in the world may not be enough to create lasting change if our leaders and institutions don’t also step up, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaqpoeVgr8U&ab_channel=AustralianArmy">stop walking past</a> sexual violence, and set a new standard for respect and justice.</p>
<p><em>If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157601/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anastasia Powell receives funding from the Australian Research Council and Australia's National Organisation for Women's Safety (ANROWS). Anastasia is also a member of the board of directors of Our Watch, Australia's national organisation for the prevention of violence against women and their children.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Asher Flynn receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the Australian Criminology Research Council and Australia's National Organisation for Women's Safety (ANROWS). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachael Burgin is the chair of Rape & Sexual Assault Research & Advocacy (RASARA), a not-for-profit organisation advocating for rape law reform and comprehensive relationship and sex education across Australia. </span></em></p>Victim-survivors want to have their experiences heard and the wrong against them acknowledged — sadly, the opposite often occurs.Anastasia Powell, Associate Professor, Criminology and Justice Studies, RMIT UniversityAsher Flynn, Associate Professor of Criminology, Monash UniversityRachael Burgin, Lecturer in Law, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1503502020-12-15T13:19:54Z2020-12-15T13:19:54ZAncient Greek desire to resolve civil strife resonates today – but Athenian justice would be a ‘bitter pill’ in modern America<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374918/original/file-20201214-21-14j3bhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Increasingly, Americans seem to have irreconcilable differences over the pandemic, the economy – even the result of the 2020 election.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/trump-supporter-yells-at-counter-protesters-outside-of-the-news-photo/1229622858?adppopup=true">Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>America’s divisions are old. Politically and socially, they are rooted in grudges and ideological vengeance that goes back generations, to the <a href="https://www.the-american-interest.com/2019/03/27/the-end-of-the-new-deal-era-and-the-coming-realignment/">New Deal</a> era, when government vastly expanded its role in people’s lives. Economically and morally, the nation was founded on the sins of slavery and Indigenous genocide. </p>
<p>The consequences of this past are still present: The COVID-19 pandemic has been far harder on <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2020/10/20/native-american-navajo-nation-coronavirus-deaths-underfunded-health-care/5883514002/">Native populations</a>, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7375320/">Black communities</a> and <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/the-pre-existing-conditions-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic/">the poor</a>.</p>
<p>Long-lasting civil strife isn’t new. Greek mythology, <a href="https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501752353/the-many-minded-man/#bookTabs=1">my field of academic scholarship</a>, is rife with cycles of vengeance that threaten to obliterate society. Two of the most famous works of Greek literature, “The Odyssey” and the “Oresteia,” are stories of seemingly eternal divisions that end with opposing factions coming together. </p>
<p>In the anxiety of the postelection period, I am <a href="https://youtu.be/zCkWZCx1x-g">turning to these stories</a> in hopes that the ancient Greeks have wisdom to share, <a href="https://theconversation.com/plagues-follow-bad-leadership-in-ancient-greek-tales-133139">as they have on plagues</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-greek-classics-tell-us-about-grief-and-the-importance-of-mourning-the-dead-145827">mourning the dead</a> and “<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-ancient-greeks-had-alternative-facts-too-they-were-just-more-chill-about-it-131815">alternative facts</a>.”</p>
<p>How did the conflict-filled Greek society find its way forward? </p>
<h2>Forgetting and forgiving?</h2>
<p>One of the poems I looked to is <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374525743">Homer’s “Odyssey</a>.” This epic poem, composed before the fifth century B.C., tells the story of a Trojan War veteran, Odysseus, whose return home takes 10 years. When his journey finally ends, he finds his wife, Penelope, besieged by suitors hoping to wed her and take over his position as ruler of the city of Ithaca.</p>
<p>Most people who read the “Odyssey” usually remember it as ending with the joyous reunion of Odysseus and Penelope, but the epic’s final book actually ends with bloodshed: Odysseus kills his wife’s suitors. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374893/original/file-20201214-17-cqlquh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Oil panting of a shirtless man in armed battle with other men" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374893/original/file-20201214-17-cqlquh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374893/original/file-20201214-17-cqlquh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374893/original/file-20201214-17-cqlquh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374893/original/file-20201214-17-cqlquh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374893/original/file-20201214-17-cqlquh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374893/original/file-20201214-17-cqlquh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374893/original/file-20201214-17-cqlquh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Odysseus and his son Telemachus kill the suitors, as painted by Thomas Degeorge in 1812.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Thomas_Degeorge_Ulysse.jpg">Thomas Degeorge via Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After the slaughter, their survivors gather to <a href="https://sententiaeantiquae.com/2015/12/09/the-trial-of-odysseus-the-ithacan-assembly-in-odyssey-24/">debate whether they should kill Odysseus in return</a>. Slightly more than half the family members decide not to pursue vengeance, but the rest arm to face Odysseus. </p>
<p>Just as the sides are about to clash, Zeus sends the goddess Athena to stop them. She declares they should forget the slaughter, recognize Odysseus as king, and “let wealth and peace be enough.” </p>
<p>No one in this scene questions the ancient custom of vengeance; people expect that the murder of a loved one must be paid back with murder. The poem’s ending implies the only way to stop cyclical violence is for those on one side to simply forget how they’ve been wronged in exchange for the promise of peace and prosperity. </p>
<h2>A split vote</h2>
<p>The Greek playwright Aeschylus also recognizes vengeance as a human institution in “Eumenides,” the final play of his three-part “<a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374527051">Oresteia</a>” – but sees a different way to resolve it.</p>
<p>The “Oresteia” tells the story of Orestes, whose father, Agamemnon, returned home after the Trojan War and was murdered by his mother and her lover. The god Apollo orders Orestes to avenge his father’s death by killing his mother. He does this, but the Furies – earthbound goddesses of vengeance – curse him with madness for the murder. They pursue him until he takes sanctuary in Athens.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374896/original/file-20201214-13-k96c1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Painting of a man assaulted by flying beings" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374896/original/file-20201214-13-k96c1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374896/original/file-20201214-13-k96c1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374896/original/file-20201214-13-k96c1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374896/original/file-20201214-13-k96c1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374896/original/file-20201214-13-k96c1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374896/original/file-20201214-13-k96c1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374896/original/file-20201214-13-k96c1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Orestes pursued by the Furies, as painted by artist William Adolphe Bouguereau in 1900.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://picryl.com/media/orestes-pursued-by-the-furies-1862">PICRYL/Detroit Publishing Co.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is where Aeschylus’ “Eumenides” picks up Orestes’ story. In Athens, in an effort to resolve this cycle of vengeance, Athena establishes a trial by jury. After both the Furies and Apollo make their cases about whether or not Orestes should be punished, the <a href="https://ecommons.luc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1102&context=classicalstudies_facpubs">12-member jury comes up deadlocked</a> – a split representing the divided opinions of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/lit.2014.0017">Athenian people</a>. </p>
<p>Again it is Athena who resolves this strife. <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0006%3Acard%3D744">She casts a tie-breaking vote for Orestes’ acquittal</a>. </p>
<p>The play finishes with Athena negotiating with the angry Furies. The Furies will be allowed ritual worship and a home within the boundaries of the city, Athena decides, but they can no longer enforce vengeance. That job belongs to the state, not its citizens. </p>
<p>Athena finds a place for the Furies, even if what they represent is no longer welcome. Today that compromise might be <a href="http://restorativejustice.org/restorative-justice/about-restorative-justice/tutorial-intro-to-restorative-justice/lesson-1-what-is-restorative-justice/#sthash.RsSPkwsO.dpbs">called restorative justice</a>, a process aimed at bringing perpetrators* back into the fold but ensuring they respect the prevailing values of that society.</p>
<h2>Stasis</h2>
<p>Aeschylus’ “Oresteia” anticipated a real-world challenge Athens would face a century later, after war with Sparta and <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/27564181">the restoration of democracy in 403 B.C.</a> </p>
<p>The year before, Sparta had conquered Athens and instituted an oligarchy – literally, the “reign of the thirty” – during which many citizens harmed one another. When the Sparta-supported tyrants were expelled, Athenians swore an oath “<a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0018%3Aspeech%3D1%3Asection%3D81">not to speak ill to anyone of the things that had happened</a>.” </p>
<p>Bad memories were not erased, of course, but the losers were granted amnesty and the public airing of past grievances was forbidden. For Athens’ leaders, stability depended on integrating formerly warring factions back into the same society. They demanded that residents prize peace over vengeance, and perhaps even over justice. </p>
<p>That’s a bitter pill to swallow. So is Homer’s solution to cyclical violence: One side overpowers the other, then demands the survivors forget the harms they suffered. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374895/original/file-20201214-16-1s4plc2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A god and a man wearing a mask speak in front of a columned building" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374895/original/file-20201214-16-1s4plc2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374895/original/file-20201214-16-1s4plc2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374895/original/file-20201214-16-1s4plc2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374895/original/file-20201214-16-1s4plc2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374895/original/file-20201214-16-1s4plc2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374895/original/file-20201214-16-1s4plc2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374895/original/file-20201214-16-1s4plc2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Orestes seeks Apollo’s help in the 2014 MacMillan Films production of the ‘Oresteia.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ORESTEIA_Staging_-_Orestes_seeks_Apollo%27s_help_at_Delphi.jpg">MacMillan Films</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These are two different strategies for resolving conflict, but in the ancient Greek language, the same word describes the endings to both the “Eumenides” and the “Odyssey”: stasis. </p>
<p>In English translation this noun is commonly used to mean “standing still” or “balance,” but in ancient texts – not just the “Odyssey” and the “Oresteia” but also in Plato, Thucydides and beyond – the most common meaning of “stasis” is “civil strife.” </p>
<p>The modern United States, like ancient Greece, is defined by stasis. On issue after issue, a stubborn subsistence of equal and opposite factions arises: the pandemic, climate change, the result of the 2020 election. </p>
<p>Greek myth and history teach that societal divisions such as these perpetuate themselves, and will continue, violently, unless something dramatic happens. This, I finally understand after a half-century of studying Greek, is why stasis means both “balance” and “strife.” </p>
<p>It’s a revelation that brings no solace. Homer and Aeschylus have the divine Athena to write their endings for them. No gods are conspiring above to free American society from its painful paralysis.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150350/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joel Christensen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Homer and Aeschylus turned to the divine to write their happy endings. But no gods are conspiring above the US, ready to swoop down and save humankind from itself.Joel Christensen, Associate Professor of Classical Studies, Brandeis UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1512482020-12-14T13:21:54Z2020-12-14T13:21:54ZWhy getting back to ‘normal’ doesn’t have to involve police in schools<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372607/original/file-20201202-24-w02ua4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5463%2C3645&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Roughly half of public schools have a police presence.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/los-angeles-school-police-officer-henry-anderson-center-on-news-photo/496418636?adppopup=true">Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since COVID-19 forced many of America’s schools to teach kids remotely, parents and elected officials have been rightly concerned about when things will get back to normal.</p>
<p>But there are certain aspects of education where a return to a prepandemic “normal” may not be in the best interests of America’s students.</p>
<p>I believe that stationing large numbers of police officers inside public schools is one reality ripe for reform. I say this not only as a <a href="https://www.stanlitow.com/about">scholar of the politics of education</a>, but as former deputy chancellor of New York City’s public schools. I served right before New York City’s mayor at the time – Rudolph Giuliani – moved to have the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/16/nyregion/new-era-as-police-prepare-to-run-school-security.html">police department take over school security</a> for the city’s school system.</p>
<p>A look back at that decision – and its consequences – can help inform the ongoing discussion about whether or how police belong in America’s schools.</p>
<h2>Police takeover</h2>
<p>Upon becoming mayor in 1994, Giuliani moved forward with the extraordinary step of shifting the responsibility for school discipline <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/16/nyregion/new-era-as-police-prepare-to-run-school-security.html">to the New York City Police Department</a>, which he ultimately got the <a href="https://www.edweek.org/leadership/n-y-c-mayor-gains-control-over-schools/2002/06">then-independent</a> Board of Education to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/16/nyregion/new-era-as-police-prepare-to-run-school-security.html">approve in 1998</a>.</p>
<p>Giuliani wanted schools to have a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/09/nyregion/giuliani-sees-role-for-police-in-the-schools.html">more visible police presence</a>, even though there was evidence that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/13/nyregion/violence-is-scarce-in-schools-police-find.html?searchResultPosition=8">violence in the city’s schools was rare</a>.</p>
<p>As the city’s deputy schools chancellor in the early 1990s, I opposed this move, as did <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/16/nyregion/new-era-as-police-prepare-to-run-school-security.html">then-Chancellor of Schools Ramón Cortines</a>, and his successor, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/16/nyregion/new-era-as-police-prepare-to-run-school-security.html">Rudy Crew</a>. We all expressed concerns that it would not make schools safer, but would negatively affect the entire school climate and impede educational progress. </p>
<p>At the time, when the Division of School Safety reported to me, it had roughly <a href="https://www.cdfny.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/10/CDF-NY-Report-History-of-Policing-in-NYC-Public-Schools.pdf">2,900 school safety officers</a> – none of whom were police officers – and a budget of about <a href="https://www.cdfny.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/10/CDF-NY-Report-History-of-Policing-in-NYC-Public-Schools.pdf">US$72 million</a>. By 2020 under New York City’s police force, staffing for school safety officers roughly doubled in size, growing to <a href="https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2020/07/02/school-safety-agents-will-stay-under-nypd-this-year-despite-citys-claims-of-1b-cut-1296868">5,511</a>.</p>
<p>And some budget reports now document spending growing to over <a href="https://www.cdfny.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/09/NYPD-School-Safety-Budget-Explainer.pdf">$400 million</a>. But the massive spike in staffing and spending is part of a larger social justice problem known as the “<a href="http://www.justicepolicy.org/news/8775">school-to-prison pipeline</a>,” in which exposure to the justice system takes place as a result of even minor infractions at school.</p>
<h2>Disparities in discipline</h2>
<p>Nationally, Black boys get suspended once or more during the school year at more than <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419844613">three times the rate</a> that white boys do. In one state, Indiana, Black students’ probability of being suspended or expelled in a school year is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419844613">roughly 16% higher</a> than it is for white students.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1808307116">Research</a> has shown that Black students are “more likely to be seen as problematic and more likely to be punished than white students are for the same offense.”</p>
<p>In the 2018 school year, <a href="https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/030419-acluschooldisciplinereport.pdf">roughly half of U.S. schools</a> had some law enforcement officials stationed in them. This is evidence that many U.S. school systems have been following a more visible form of school discipline with closer and deeper connections to policing and law enforcement than in the past.</p>
<h2>Alternatives to police</h2>
<p>I believe there is a different way.</p>
<p>School districts such as <a href="https://edsource.org/2020/oakland-school-board-unanimously-agrees-to-eliminate-its-police-force/634544">Oakland</a>, California, and <a href="https://coloradosun.com/2020/06/11/denver-public-schools-police/">Denver</a>, Colorado, have moved to eliminate or phase out police presence in schools.</p>
<p>There are plans to use the savings, at least in the case of Oakland, toward more counselors, social workers and workers who focus on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X12473125">restorative justice</a>, which involves practices such as peer mediation, restitution and community service instead of punitive measures, such as suspension or expulsion.</p>
<p>The results of pilot studies in both Oakland and Denver were quite positive. In Oakland, <a href="https://www.ousd.org/cms/lib07/CA01001176/Centricity/Domain/134/OUSD-RJ%20Report%20revised%20Final.pdf">graduation rates increased 60%</a> in schools that implemented restorative justice practices, and <a href="https://www.ousd.org/cms/lib07/CA01001176/Centricity/Domain/134/OUSD-RJ%20Report%20revised%20Final.pdf">suspensions fell by 56%</a>.</p>
<p>The incoming administration – through the U.S. Department of Education – has an opportunity to focus attention and resources away from having more police in schools. Instead, the administration of President-elect Joe Biden can provide funding incentives that would encourage school districts to increase school safety and school success, by investing more heavily in counselors and other forms of student support.</p>
<p>As I see it, by doing so, America’s schools will be safe, but also <a href="https://www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/resources/projects/center-for-civil-rights-remedies/school-to-prison-folder/federal-reports/the-high-cost-of-harsh-discipline-and-its-disparate-impact">more students will graduate</a> and fewer young people will be fed into the school-to-prison pipeline.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/151248/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stanley S. Litow does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A former deputy chancellor of New York City schools explains why the police don’t need to patrol the nation’s public schools.Stanley S. Litow, Visting Professor of the Pratice, Public Policy, Duke UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1500752020-12-02T04:25:39Z2020-12-02T04:25:39Z‘What I had to say mattered’ — how can we provide justice for sexual assault victims beyond criminal trials?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372410/original/file-20201202-21-1srczzo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Louise Milligan’s new book, <a href="https://theconversation.com/review-louise-milligans-witness-is-a-devastating-critique-of-the-criminal-trial-process-148334">Witness</a>, reports how traumatic the criminal justice system can be for victim-survivors of sexual assault. </p>
<p>This is not the first time we have heard how official responses to sexual violence can cause harm.</p>
<p>As the child abuse royal commission <a href="https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/file-list/final_report_-_criminal_justice_report_-_executive_summary_and_parts_i_to_ii.pdf">pointed out</a>, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>the criminal justice system is unlikely ever to provide an easy or straightforward experience for a complainant.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Victorian Law Reform Commission is currently <a href="https://lawreform.vic.gov.au/all-projects/improving-response-justice-system-sexual-offences">looking at</a> how to improve responses to sexual offences. As part of this, it is <a href="https://lawreform.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2657-VLRC_Sexual%20Offences%20Issue%20Papers-G-web.pdf">seeking submissions</a> on whether there are other ways — beyond criminal trials — to better meet the needs of people who have experienced sexual harms. </p>
<h2>The limits of criminal trials</h2>
<p>Criminal trials may hold offenders to account and officially acknowledge and denounce sexual harm. However, they are far from perfect.</p>
<p>While research suggests victim-survivors want to be <a href="https://www.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0029/229448/2014-Daly-Reconceptualizing-sexual-victimization-PUBversion.pdf">heard, believed and vindicated</a>, going to court means they are cross-examined on their version of events. The truthfulness of their account is publicly challenged in cases where the defendant offers a different story. </p>
<p>Victim-survivors report being <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/publications/family-matters/issue-85/what-justice-system-willing-offer">re-traumatised</a> by the trial process, as their explanation of what happened is tested in court. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Young woman looking out a window." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372439/original/file-20201202-21-oftg9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372439/original/file-20201202-21-oftg9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372439/original/file-20201202-21-oftg9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372439/original/file-20201202-21-oftg9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372439/original/file-20201202-21-oftg9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372439/original/file-20201202-21-oftg9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372439/original/file-20201202-21-oftg9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sexual assault trials can re-traumatise victims.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Even when an alleged offender is convicted, some victim-survivors still do not feel <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/CRG-33-14-15-Final-Report.pdf">justice has been done</a>. They may have their own questions for the offender that remain unanswered.</p>
<p>Some of the problems with the criminal justice system can, and should, be addressed through reform. Other problems may be unavoidable in an adversarial system. </p>
<h2>Restorative justice</h2>
<p>Research indicates victim-survivors want a range of things when <a href="https://www.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0029/229448/2014-Daly-Reconceptualizing-sexual-victimization-PUBversion.pdf">seeking “justice”</a>. These include telling their story in full, having it heard and believed, holding the perpetrator to account and <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/publications/family-matters/issue-85/what-justice-system-willing-offer">preventing</a> further harm.</p>
<p>Given trials may not achieve all of these goals, <a href="https://cij.org.au/cms/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/innovative-justice-responses-to-sexual-offending.pdf">some experts</a> have argued victim-survivors should be able to choose from a <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/143870356.pdf">“menu” of justice options</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/review-louise-milligans-witness-is-a-devastating-critique-of-the-criminal-trial-process-148334">Review: Louise Milligan’s Witness is a devastating critique of the criminal trial process</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>With this in mind, <a href="https://cij.org.au/opencircle/what-is-restorative-justice/">restorative justice</a> is one option being explored by the Victorian Law Reform Commission.</p>
<p>Restorative justice initiatives are separate to criminal trials but can operate at the same time and don’t necessarily replace criminal justice proceedings.</p>
<p>In general, restorative justice will see the people affected by a crime — both victims and perpetrators — brought together. They will discuss the impact of the crime and how to repair the harm it caused. </p>
<p>Restorative justice <a href="https://cij.org.au/cms/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/innovative-justice-responses-to-sexual-offending.pdf">programs</a> already exist in relation to a range of harms. For example, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory now use it for <a href="https://www.justice.vic.gov.au/fvrjservice">family violence</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://justice.act.gov.au/justice-programs-and-initiatives/restorative-justice">ACT</a> and <a href="https://projectrestore.nz/">New Zealand</a> also offer facilitated meetings between a person who has been sexually harmed, the person who caused the harm and their support people.</p>
<h2>Doing justice differently</h2>
<p>In Victoria, a <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/CRG-33-14-15-Final-Report.pdf">restorative justice program</a> — independent of the courts — previously operated through a community service. Victim-survivors of sexual assault were referred to the program or contacted the service themselves. </p>
<p>The facilitator — a specially trained sexual assault counsellor — met with them and discussed their motivations, the process and likely outcomes. If the case was suitable, the facilitator contacted the person alleged to be responsible and invited them to be involved. </p>
<p>After a series of preparatory meetings, a supported meeting with the victim, the person responsible and other friends and family took place. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Young woman in counselling session." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372421/original/file-20201202-21-1ozdk6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372421/original/file-20201202-21-1ozdk6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372421/original/file-20201202-21-1ozdk6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372421/original/file-20201202-21-1ozdk6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372421/original/file-20201202-21-1ozdk6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372421/original/file-20201202-21-1ozdk6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372421/original/file-20201202-21-1ozdk6m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Restorative justice programs do not have the same legal rules as a court.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Restorative justice processes may give victim-survivors an opportunity to <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/CRG-33-14-15-Final-Report.pdf">tell their story</a> without being limited by legal rules and get back a sense of control in their lives. </p>
<p>In an evaluation of the Victorian program, <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/CRG-33-14-15-Final-Report.pdf">one survivor said</a> it made her feel as though,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>what I had to say mattered and that everyone was listening to me and taking it in and considering it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But the approach is not without its critics. There are <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1362480606059980">concerns</a> it may provide another opportunity for perpetrators to manipulate and harm their victims. Indeed, in the same <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/CRG-33-14-15-Final-Report.pdf">evaluation report</a>, victim-survivors recognised that restorative justice processes could be re-traumatising.</p>
<p>As one interviewee noted, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I think you just need to be careful at what stage in the victim’s recovery you’re going to do that, if at all.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Implementing restorative processes</h2>
<p>Whether restorative processes should be one of the justice options available to victim-survivors remains a matter of debate. There are also important questions around what model could be used. </p>
<p>These include whether restorative justice outcomes should influence criminal sentences, what standards and training need to be put in place and are there cases where it is <a href="https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/file-list/final_report_-_criminal_justice_report_-_executive_summary_and_parts_i_to_ii.pdf">not appropriate</a>?</p>
<p>Academics <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/CRG-33-14-15-Final-Report.pdf">also emphasise</a> the need for more research with victim-survivors, to better understand the benefits and limits of different programs.</p>
<h2>Listening to experiences</h2>
<p>Legal categories such as “rape” and “sexual assault” play an important role in naming behaviour and organising community responses. However, these terms cover a <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/143870356.pdf">wide range of experiences</a>. Victim-survivors may have different ideas about what justice and accountability might mean. </p>
<p>The challenge for law reform inquiries is to look beyond categories and engage with the <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=985007">real lives</a> of those who experience such harm.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nsw-law-reform-report-misses-chance-to-institute-yes-means-yes-in-sexual-consent-cases-150628">NSW law reform report misses chance to institute 'yes means yes' in sexual consent cases</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>For this reason, the Victorian Law Reform Commission is also examining other options that could make the justice system safer for victim-survivors, such as <a href="https://lawreform.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2657-VLRC_Sexual%20Offences%20Issue%20Papers-B-web.pdf">victim-survivor advocates</a> and <a href="https://www.lawreform.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2657-VLRC_Sexual%20Offences%20Issue%20Papers-D-web.pdf">alternative ways of reporting</a> sexual harm.</p>
<p>The key question in the Victorian inquiry is, what will really improve the justice system’s response to sexual offences? It is only through learning more about <a href="https://engage.vic.gov.au/response-justice-system-sexual-offences">victim-survivors’ experiences</a> that this question might be answered.</p>
<p><em>Submissions to the inquiry close on December 23. The Commission is due to report to the Victorian government by August 2021.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150075/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Professor McSherry is a Commissioner with the Victorian Law Reform Commission.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nesam McMillan is currently a Senior Research & Policy Officer at the Victorian Law Reform Commission. She is working on the Commission's Sexual Offences Reference while she is on temporary leave from the University of Melbourne. </span></em></p>Criminal trials may hold offenders to account but they are far from perfect. The Victorian Law Reform Commission is looking at how restorative justice could be used for sexual offences.Bernadette McSherry, Foundation Director, Melbourne Social Equity Institute and Professor of Law, The University of MelbourneNesam McMillan, Senior Lecturer in Global Criminology (University of Melbourne); Senior Research & Policy Officer (Victorian Law Reform Commission)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1467612020-10-06T04:12:41Z2020-10-06T04:12:41ZVictoria’s criminal courts are critically backlogged. This is how we can speed up justice<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361766/original/file-20201006-16-1sreblv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Ross/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In early September, Victoria Supreme Court Chief Justice Anne Ferguson issued a <a href="https://www.courts.vic.gov.au/news/statement-easing-coronavirus-restrictions">statement</a> as COVID cases began to rapidly decline across the state following the peak of the second wave.</p>
<p>Ferguson said she and her colleagues would </p>
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<p>carefully consider what changes we can make practically, safely and steadily in line with the easing of each level of restrictions. </p>
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<p>For the hundreds of people languishing on remand in Victoria’s jails waiting for their cases to be heard, these changes can’t come quickly enough. </p>
<p>Coronavirus has dealt a blow to the already overburdened and slow-moving Victorian Supreme and County Court systems, where jury trials involving serious criminal offences are heard. Unless there are creative solutions put in place to deal with the backlog of cases caused by the pandemic, the old adage may prove true: justice delayed is justice denied.</p>
<h2>How backlogged the system is</h2>
<p>The court system was already quite backed up in Victoria — as it is in every state and territory. </p>
<p>In June, there were around <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/corrective-services-australia/latest-release">2,800 people</a> in Victoria’s prisons waiting to be sentenced or on remand waiting for their hearing. That month, the County Court also estimated its <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/courts-ready-to-handle-post-lockdown-case-backlog-top-judges-say-20200604-p54zfj.html">backlog of cases</a> to be 750.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/courts-are-moving-to-video-during-coronavirus-but-research-shows-its-hard-to-get-a-fair-trial-remotely-134386">Courts are moving to video during coronavirus, but research shows it's hard to get a fair trial remotely</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>Last year, the Productivity Commission <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/report-on-government-services/2020/justice/courts#downloads">found</a> around 20% of criminal cases in Victoria’s Supreme and County Courts were over a year old. </p>
<p>This figure is likely to be far greater by the end of this year given criminal trials have essentially been stopped in these courts since March. </p>
<p>In other words, the backlog of cases will only continue to grow and the waiting time for suspected offenders, victims and witnesses to have their day in court will stretch out well into 2022.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1300295635782922240"}"></div></p>
<h2>New ways of thinking</h2>
<p>Short of pleading guilty and hoping for a quick release from prison, or trying to jump over the hurdles of Victoria’s extraordinarily complex bail laws, there is little a person can do but wait. </p>
<p>And this is no doubt challenging for those on remand in prison. During COVID, family visits <a href="https://www.corrections.vic.gov.au/prisons/visiting-a-prisoner">have been on hold</a> and education and other programs have been sporadic at best. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/jury-is-out-why-shifting-to-judge-alone-trials-is-a-flawed-approach-to-criminal-justice-137397">Jury is out: why shifting to judge-alone trials is a flawed approach to criminal justice</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<hr>
<p>But with every crisis comes opportunity: we can now make the necessary reforms to drag the criminal trial process into the 21st century. </p>
<p>To be fair, Victorian courts have begun tackling the COVID crisis. The County Court has, for instance, <a href="https://www.countycourt.vic.gov.au/practice-notes?filters%5Bkeyword%5D=coronavirus&filters%5Bdivision%5D=2&sort=Updated">instituted</a> an emergency case management system to help speed up its lengthy court processes.</p>
<p>But COVID presents a not-to-be-missed opportunity for permanent changes to be put in place, such as relying more on early dispute resolution, making better use of technology so the days of crowded courtrooms and long waiting times are a thing of the past, and implementing <a href="https://cij.org.au/opencircle/what-is-restorative-justice/#:%7E:text=Restorative%20justice%20is%20a%20theory,moves%20beyond%20punishment%20towards%20healing.">restorative justice</a> instead of lengthy jail time for offenders.</p>
<h2>Many criminal cases could avoid trial altogether</h2>
<p>Early dispute resolution is a smart approach that has already been used in magistrates courts for some years now. </p>
<p>In this process, the prosecution and defence meet to discuss the issues of a case with the judge, the likelihood of conviction and what sort of sentence might be available if the suspected offender were to plead guilty. All criminal cases should be subjected to this process now.</p>
<p>The sort of aggressive case management that routinely occurs in the family law and commercial courts — where judges take a very interventionist role and lawyers are expected to be willing to compromise — should also be a permanent feature of the criminal justice process.</p>
<p>The days of prosecution and defence resolving cases only when the trial or hearing date is approaching must end.</p>
<h2>Online hearings and judge appointments</h2>
<p>Technology must also become a permanent feature of how all courts, including criminal trial courts in Victoria, do business. </p>
<p>In some ways, going to court has not changed since the 19th century. Courts sit from 9:30 or 10am until 4pm each day and generally require individuals, including lawyers, to be physically present for hearings. </p>
<p>Much court time is taken up with short hearings which are essentially about case management and setting timetables. This could be done outside court hours via video conference between legal representatives and the judge instead.</p>
<p>We should also use an appointment system for judges hearing cases. For example, it might suit the judge and the parties to hold a directions hearing online, rather than in the usual courtroom setting.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361787/original/file-20201006-22-1049ubt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361787/original/file-20201006-22-1049ubt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361787/original/file-20201006-22-1049ubt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361787/original/file-20201006-22-1049ubt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361787/original/file-20201006-22-1049ubt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361787/original/file-20201006-22-1049ubt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361787/original/file-20201006-22-1049ubt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Judges and lawyers can make much better use of video conferencing to save time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A new approach to sentencing</h2>
<p>The greater use of restorative justice is another way of reducing court backlogs.</p>
<p><a href="https://cij.org.au/opencircle/what-is-restorative-justice/#:%7E:text=Restorative%20justice%20is%20a%20theory,moves%20beyond%20punishment%20towards%20healing.">Restorative justice</a> is an alternative to a traditional court process that involves victims being able to directly confront offenders who have pleaded guilty about the impact their crime has had on them.</p>
<p>It also forces offenders to come to terms with their crimes, rather than seeking to rationalise or minimise them. Those who take part are typically offered reduced jail time.</p>
<p>This can be particularly effective in historical sexual abuse cases where potential sentences are so high that defendants often proceed to trial rather than pleading guilty, hoping for an acquittal.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-historic-cases-punishment-alone-is-not-always-the-best-response-to-violent-crime-84266">In historic cases, punishment alone is not always the best response to violent crime</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>Recent surveys in other countries show restorative justice to be very popular among victims. A <a href="https://www.justice.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Publications/Restorative-Justice-Victim-Satisfaction-Survey-Report-Final-TK-206840.pdf">2018 survey</a> for the New Zealand Department of Justice found 86% of victims were satisfied with the process, while a <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-International-Handbook-of-Restorative-Justice/Gavrielides/p/book/9781472480705">2016 study in the UK</a> found 60% of those who used restorative justice would recommend it to other victims of crimes.</p>
<p>The Victorian criminal justice process is a critical element of the state’s democratic fabric. But business as usual is not an option now that COVID has rendered a creaking system broken. It is the ideal time for realistic and overdue reforms to alleviate the backlog of cases and shorten the time people must spend in the court system.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146761/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Greg Barns is the national criminal justice spokesman for the Australian Lawyers Alliance.</span></em></p>Coronavirus has dealt a blow to the already overburdened Victorian criminal court system, meaning hundreds — if not more — face extensive delays for their day in court.Greg Barns, Sessional Lecturer in Law, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1447862020-09-15T18:28:06Z2020-09-15T18:28:06ZWhy are police still charging youth with simple drug possession? The case for decriminalization<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357928/original/file-20200914-20-1rjgwwv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=233%2C0%2C6071%2C3989&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Decriminalization of simple drug possession would treat drug use as a health issue, not a criminal justice issue.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The stories are similar: before they were searched by police, young people swallowed whatever substance they had on them for personal use, to avoid “catching” additional charges. Each of us has heard them repeatedly while working with youth.</p>
<p>This impulsive ingestion has <a href="https://www.cihi.ca/en/health-professionals-express-concerns-over-rates-of-youth-hospitalizations-due-to-substance-use">significant ramifications for youth, families and communities</a>. It is particularly dangerous for youth, who may not have built up enough tolerance for the substance, or are unaware of what they have actually purchased. These youth often have already taken another drug before they encounter police, and mixing more than one substance, or taking more of the same substance, is known to <a href="http://www.drugcocktails.ca">lead to worse outcomes in youth</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A pair of handcuffs lies on top of a fingerprint card." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357651/original/file-20200911-22-1of1hqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357651/original/file-20200911-22-1of1hqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357651/original/file-20200911-22-1of1hqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357651/original/file-20200911-22-1of1hqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357651/original/file-20200911-22-1of1hqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357651/original/file-20200911-22-1of1hqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357651/original/file-20200911-22-1of1hqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Over the past two years, simple possession cases involving young people in Nova Scotia have been referred to restorative justice programs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unsplash/Bill Oxford)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This leads us to ask: why are police still charging people for possession of substances for personal use under the <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-38.8/fulltext.html">Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA)</a>? In Canada in 2018, <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2019001/article/00013/tbl/tbl15-eng.htm">more than 6,300 youth were arrested</a> or had interactions with police for drug possession.</p>
<h2>Toxic candy</h2>
<p>Alprazolam (Xanax) is a type of benzodiazepine medication often used to treat anxiety and panic disorders, but is also <a href="https://theconversation.com/xanax-how-does-it-work-and-what-are-the-side-effects-94594">used recreationally by young people</a>. When ingested in a toxic amount — which varies by age and weight — it can lead to coma, <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1097%2FADM.0000000000000350">slow and ineffective breathing and even death</a>. </p>
<p>As manufacturing of illicit substances evolves, so does the appearance, content and strength of those substances. Alprazolam pills pressed to look like <a href="https://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/police-seize-xanax-resembling-sweetarts-candy">SweeTARTS</a> and other candies have been found in Canadian communities. A “sweet tart” or “xanie tart” varies in its potency and may <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.4306">contain other substances including fentanyl and heroin</a>. If impulsively ingested by a youth who is not accustomed to the drug, the results could be life-altering. </p>
<h2>A health issue, not a criminal justice issue</h2>
<p>Since its inception, the <a href="https://www.nslegalaid.ca/legal-information/youth-law/">Nova Scotia Legal Aid youth office</a> has assisted youth with simple possession charges, contrary to <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-38.8/page-2.html#docCont">s.4(1) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act</a>. However, in the past two years, no youth legal aid lawyer has had this charge go beyond the preliminary stages of court proceedings. Federal Crown attorneys have exercised their discretion to withdraw or refer simple possession charges to <a href="https://novascotia.ca/just/rj/">restorative justice programs</a>. As criminal charges can be dismissed if a youth completes restorative justice, they avoid the stigmatization that may come with a youth court record. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ppsc-sppc.gc.ca/eng/pub/fpsd-sfpg/fps-sfp/tpd/p5/ch13.html">Updates to the Public Prosecution Services of Canada (PPSC) deskbook</a> appear to reflect a crystallization of this conventional practice and recognize that simply possessing and using substances ought to be dealt with through the health system, and not the criminal justice system. Unfortunately, as long as police can arrest a youth and lay the charge of simple possession, the health risks we’ve each seen in social work, the emergency room and legal aid will remain unchanged.</p>
<p>The risk of being handcuffed by a police officer, being charged or the thought of being obliged to appear in a courtroom can be extremely consequential to a child. Most young people have very little insight into the workings of the justice system. It is likely they will assume that being found with a substance like Xanax will land them in a locked facility. </p>
<p>They may already be under the influence of a substance when they realize they are at risk of a police officer finding it in their possession. This clouds their judgement in an already stressful situation and further increases the risk that they will consume an unsafe amount of a substance to get rid of it, potentially leading to serious harm or death.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A police officer wearing a neon yellow jacket that reads 'POLICE.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357652/original/file-20200911-16-1fmlev7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357652/original/file-20200911-16-1fmlev7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=311&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357652/original/file-20200911-16-1fmlev7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=311&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357652/original/file-20200911-16-1fmlev7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=311&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357652/original/file-20200911-16-1fmlev7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357652/original/file-20200911-16-1fmlev7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357652/original/file-20200911-16-1fmlev7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Young people may already be under the influence of a substance when they encounter police, clouding their judgement and increasing the likelihood of swallowing unsafe amounts of a substance to prevent police from finding it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pixabay)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A <a href="https://www.ccsa.ca/sites/default/files/2019-04/CCSA-Decriminalization-Controlled-Substances-Policy-Brief-2018-en.pdf">2018 policy brief on decriminalization</a> by the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse and Addiction examines how other countries approach possession and connection back to supportive health programs. The <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7161215/drug-decriminalization-canada-future/">Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police supports the decriminalization of personal, illicit drug possession</a>, and the <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-canada-takes-step-to-decriminalize-of-drug-possession-amid-opioid/">Public Prosecution Service of Canada is taking steps</a> to decrease the likelihood of conviction for personal, illicit drug possession. </p>
<p>Until further decriminalization efforts can be made, what can be done now? </p>
<h2>A safer alternative</h2>
<p>Consider the impact of police officers offering people the chance to turn over any illicit substances without consequence, regardless of previous charges or any existing legal conditions requiring them to refrain from substances. </p>
<p>This practice may avoid accidental overdoses and reduce the risk of medical complications while youth are in the custody of police, sheriffs or correctional officers, most of whom do not have the training, tools or time needed to treat a person experiencing an overdose. It may also decrease the <a href="https://sph.unc.edu/sph-news/former-inmates-at-high-risk-for-opioid-overdose-following-prison-release/">risk of accidental overdose</a> when released from custody, should they be remanded into forced sobriety. </p>
<p>This change in practice could <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/9105-A-Public-Health-Approach-to-Drugs-Discussion-Paper.pdf">help address the stigma around substance use</a>, which is a barrier to seeking help. Analyzing substances handed over could provide life-saving information and increase the likelihood of apprehending those who manufacture and traffic these substances. </p>
<p>Given the <a href="https://ama.com.au/ausmed/treat-addiction-health-issue-not-crime-%E2%80%93-experts">recognition that substance misuse is a health and social issue, not a criminal issue</a>, we hope that police officers will use their <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/nova-scotia-police-chief-decriminalizing-drugs-1.5648297">discretion</a> and offer a safer choice for youth. </p>
<p>Like the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/news/2017/05/good_samaritan_drugoverdoseactbecomeslawincanada.html">Good Samaritan law</a> that ensures people will not be criminalized for making sure another receives proper medical attention, such a practice would only be useful if those affected know about it. Letting people know they will not be charged for their personal substances will take time, communication and acceptance of the <a href="https://www.ccsa.ca/sites/default/files/2019-04/CCSA-Addiction-Care-in-Canada-Treatment-Guide-2017-en.pdf">best practice research on substance use disorders</a>.</p>
<p><em>This article was co-authored by Paul Sheppard, a youth lawyer with Nova Scotia Legal Aid in Halifax.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144786/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Young people often swallow any drugs they have on them when they encounter police, risking overdose to avoid a drug possession charge.Kristyn Anderson, PhD (Health) student, MSW, RSW, RMFT, Dalhousie UniversityKirstin Weerdenburg, Pediatric Emergency Physician, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1093812019-07-15T13:46:52Z2019-07-15T13:46:52ZAfghanistan: how to widen access to justice<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277017/original/file-20190529-192361-6f40gi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tribal members in a jirga, or circle – one traditional avenue for justice in Afghanistan.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/gardez-august-26-afghan-tribal-members-53486098?src=PbINJgfUTDbXz80Cd0_mgA-1-1">Lizette Potgieter/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Getting justice in Afghanistan is a complicated business. Two main justice systems – state laws based on the civil law tradition and Islamic jurisprudence – combine with non-state institutions, such as traditional village <em>jirgas</em> (circles) or <em>shuras</em> (councils), to resolve local disputes and deal with offences. </p>
<p>Since the collapse of the Taliban regime, the US alone has <a href="https://www.sigar.mil/pdf/audits/SIGAR-15-68-AR.pdf">spent well over a billion dollars</a> rebuilding and reforming Afghanistan’s state justice sector, influenced by the Western system of retributive justice. But the failure to engage with the Afghanistan’s own tradition of <a href="http://www.cscsb.org/restorative_justice/retribution_vs_restoration.html">restorative justice</a> and to understand its multiplicity of justice providers has undermined true reform. </p>
<p>It has instead resulted in a justice system that doesn’t have the full capacity to address the complex needs of all the Afghan people. And it has allowed others, including the Taliban judiciary – who have a select and narrow interpretation of Sharia – to step into the vacuum. This can lead to situations where people’s rights – especially women – are unprotected or infringed.</p>
<p>A “hybrid model” that instead forges links between state and non-state providers could provide justice that is more accessible, affordable and inclusive – and one with better oversight of those involved, and which would reduce human rights violations.</p>
<p>In 2007, <a href="http://www.af.undp.org/content/afghanistan/en/home/library/human_development/Af-HDR2007.html">out of research and a report</a> for the UN Development Programme (UNDP), I developed such a model. The idea was to create complementary links between the existing state justice system, various non-state justice providers, and women’s/human rights units, each acting as a check and balance on the others. </p>
<p>Although vested interest of powerful Afghan politicians delayed the translation of this hybrid model into practice, it has now partially resulted in a draft law – the Law on Conciliatory Jirga’s in Civil Disputes – which is currently waiting to be approved by the new Afghan parliament. </p>
<h2>Women’s rights</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/binaries/content/assets/rechtsgeleerdheid/instituut-voor-metajuridica/afghanistans-justice-system-vs-2016.10.04.pdf">Research has shown</a> that non-state justice providers (especially <em>jirgas</em> and <em>shuras</em>) are perceived as more accessible, trusted, less corrupt and speedier in resolving disputes than the state courts. But these male-only institutions exclude women, are sometimes influenced by warlords, and their decisions are not officially recorded. Most of these non-state justice institutions also variously violate human rights, for example in their use of <em>baad</em>, a centuries-old practice in which an offender’s female relative is given in marriage to a male family member of a victim.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277019/original/file-20190529-192416-k7chf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277019/original/file-20190529-192416-k7chf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277019/original/file-20190529-192416-k7chf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277019/original/file-20190529-192416-k7chf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277019/original/file-20190529-192416-k7chf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277019/original/file-20190529-192416-k7chf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277019/original/file-20190529-192416-k7chf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Justice that protects women too.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/afghan-women-on-street-13492072?src=fkn9UjnjZbbHwr1ONtRgsQ-1-4">Lizette Potgieter/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A hybrid framework not only creates a collaborative dialogue between various state and non-state justice providers, but also empowers women through raising awareness of their rights and supporting spaces for contestation. Human rights units can provide disputants with help and advice in selecting the right institution for their case and can also check justice decisions are consistent with women’s and human rights principles. These units can also be empowered to examine issues relating to domestic violence, past human rights abuses and war crimes.</p>
<p>Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) units would handle minor criminal offences and any civil cases. Their decisions would be checked by the closest state justice institution to ensure that decisions didn’t violate Afghanistan’s law and/or the fundamental principles of Islamic Sharia. Decisions that failed to be endorsed on either human rights grounds or by a concerned state court, would be revised or referred to the state justice system for adjudication. But all serious criminal cases would fall exclusively under the remit of the state justice system. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/252506/original/file-20190104-32124-imiscw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/252506/original/file-20190104-32124-imiscw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/252506/original/file-20190104-32124-imiscw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/252506/original/file-20190104-32124-imiscw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/252506/original/file-20190104-32124-imiscw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/252506/original/file-20190104-32124-imiscw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=616&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/252506/original/file-20190104-32124-imiscw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=616&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/252506/original/file-20190104-32124-imiscw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=616&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A different design for the justice system in Afghanistan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>A challenging time</h2>
<p>It took more than a decade to get the idea of a hybrid model of justice accepted in Afghanistan. Senior judges saw it as a threat to their exclusive authority over all cases and disputes within the state judicial system. They also saw the 2007 UNDP report recommendations as a possible diversion of international aid to non-state justice providers. The report was initially banned by Afghanistan’s Supreme Court. </p>
<p>But strong support from international organisations including the US Institute of Peace, the Norwegian Refugee Council, and some national and international institutions in Afghanistan led to the implementation of programmes that trained traditional local mediators, promoted legal awareness and women’s rights and resulted in more coordination between non-state actors and the state justice system. </p>
<p>Success of these programmes induced Afghanistan’s Ministry of Justice to revisit the hybrid model and these programmes may be the reason behind the <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181203006003/en/Asia-Foundation-Releases-2018-Survey-Afghan-People">increasing rejection of the practise of <em>baad</em></a> in Afghanistan. The UNDP report suggested that 28% of people saw <em>baad</em> was “always” or “sometimes” an outcome of <em>jirga</em>/<em>shura</em> decision making in 2007, <a href="http://openasia.org/en/g/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Research-Draft-21-Oct-2014-3-1.pdf">recent research</a> reveals that this practice now <a href="https://www.pajhwok.com/en/2018/04/10/ghani-praises-%E2%80%98no-more-baad-marriages%E2%80%99-khost">rarely happens</a>.</p>
<p>I have now also been working with Conciliation Resources, an international peace organisation, to see how the hybrid model can be used to engage traditional and religious institutions using their established practical experience of resolving local conflict <a href="https://www.c-r.org/accord/afghanistan/institutionalising-inclusive-and-sustainable-justice-afghanistan-hybrid">to contribute</a> to peacemaking in Afghanistan.</p>
<h2>The Palestine connection</h2>
<p>The hybrid model could also work in other places where multiple state and non-state justice institutions exist. Hebron University’s Mutaz Qafisheh and I <a href="https://www.elevenjournals.com/tijdschrift/IJRJ/2019/1/IJRJ_2589-0891_2019_002_001_006">recently found</a> that the state alone cannot provide effective justice for all Palestinian children. As in Afghanistan, many people see the justice provided by key non-state providers as more speedy and accessible. </p>
<p>But, as we also found in Afghanistan, these are also often male-dominated providers that prioritise community over individual rights. For example, it is <em>makhateer</em> (traditional male mediators/community leaders) and <em>mosleheen</em> (male conciliators) who often decide what is good for the community, and whose judgments sometimes violate the rights of young offenders or victims, and especially girls. </p>
<p>As a result of this work, Swiss children’s charity <a href="https://www.tdh.ch/en">Terre des hommes</a> – which provides professional support to the Palestinian state juvenile justice system and legal/social support for children in conflict with law – is now using our idea of a hybrid model in its juvenile justice policy in the Palestinian Territories.</p>
<p>Justice is especially complex in countries where multiple providers exist – and whether official or unofficial, many of these are here to stay. Rather than impose one top-down retributive system, it is prudent to harness the many positive aspects of local traditional, religious and other existing non-state justice providers and link them to the state justice system in meaningful ways. This form of hybridity helps to prevent human rights violation, and promises to provide more accessible, affordable, effective and restorative justice for all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109381/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Along with Kate Williams and Palash Kamaruzzaman, I recently received £300,000 from the British Academy to conduct field research on the Rohingyas in Bangladesh and Internally Displaced Persons in Afghanistan. </span></em></p>In countries where people access different justice providers, a hybrid model could pull them together and ensure better oversight and human rights.Ali Wardak, Professor of Criminology, University of South WalesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1157112019-06-05T04:14:15Z2019-06-05T04:14:15ZAustralia should give victims a voice in tackling environmental crimes<p>Contrary to popular belief, crimes against the environment are not “<a href="https://www.unodc.org/documents/NGO/EIA_Ecocrime_report_0908_final_draft_low.pdf">victimless</a>”. They affect many people, animals, plants and landscapes. Crimes against the environment should not be taken lightly. </p>
<p>Broadly defined, environmental crimes are those that harm the environment. This <a href="https://aic.gov.au/publications/rpp/rpp109?fbclid=IwAR1WqiIBS09fDlyFazBncppU6zQlaDucmXLtWAGGZavyLdyS2RBIAIO_apI">includes</a> acts such as polluting water or air, illegal fishing or trade in wildlife, and water theft. The international Environmental Investigation Agency <a href="https://www.unodc.org/documents/NGO/EIA_Ecocrime_report_0908_final_draft_low.pdf">reports</a> environmental offending is “one of the most profitable forms of criminal activity”.</p>
<p>Australia is currently missing out on a hugely useful tool in the fight against environmental crime: restorative justice. This approach, which has been used successfully in New Zealand, deserves a nationwide commitment. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-a-narrow-view-of-restorative-justice-blunts-its-impact-67258">Why a narrow view of restorative justice blunts its impact</a>
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<h2>Restorative justice conferencing</h2>
<p>Australia is a <a href="https://aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi186">world leader</a> in using restorative justice to deal with both <a href="https://aic.gov.au/publications/rpp/rpp127/restorative-justice-australia">adult and young offenders</a>.</p>
<p>Simply defined, restorative justice is a process in which the victim, offender, and other parties affected by a crime come together to discuss the aftermath of the offence and its impact. Each party plays a role in resolving the dispute with the help of an impartial facilitator. </p>
<p>Restorative justice is all about restoring harm, preventing the crime from reoccurring, and fixing (or building) relationships. </p>
<p><a href="https://aic.gov.au/publications/rpp/rpp127/impact-restorative-justice">Research has found</a> that, compared with the traditional criminal court process, restorative justice can reduce the chances of <a href="http://www.iirp.edu/pdf/RJ_full_report.pdf">reoffending</a>, increase <a href="https://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Documents/CJB/cjb170.pdf">victim satisfaction</a>, and prompt <a href="https://www.judcom.nsw.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/research-monograph-22.pdf">offenders to feel more responsibility</a> for their actions. </p>
<p>During a conference, victims can explain the effect a crime had on them, and ask questions – giving them a <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bjc/article-abstract/17/1/1/411623?redirectedFrom=fulltext">voice</a> in traditional proceedings. Offenders can give reasons why the crime happened, and apologise. A range of other outcomes may be agreed to in a conference, including <a href="https://www.cla.asn.au/News/victims-meet-perpetrators/">compensation and community work</a>.</p>
<p>However, our research reveals that conferencing is underused when it comes to environmental crimes in Australia. </p>
<h2>New Zealand leads the way</h2>
<p>New Zealand is leading the world in using restorative justice to deal with environmental crimes. This is largely a result of two pieces of legislation passed in 2002. First, the <a href="http://www.nzlii.org/nz/legis/consol_act/vra2002184/">Victims’ Rights Act 2002</a> says that, if possible, the court (or other representative) must arrange a restorative justice conference at a victim’s request. Second, the <a href="http://www.nzlii.org/nz/legis/consol_act/sa2002121/">Sentencing Act 2002</a> makes it mandatory for a judge to take into account any outcomes reached in a conference. </p>
<p>While more research focusing on the precise benefits is needed, anecdotal evidence from shows New Zealand’s approach is effective. Several <a href="http://www.rmla.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/rmla_nov04_journal.pdf">judges</a>, <a href="https://www.ecan.govt.nz/get-involved/news-and-events/zone-news/banks-peninsula/what-happens-when-values-are-put-to-work/">prosecutors</a> and <a href="http://202.89.49.21/%7Edebclaps/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Restorative-justice-finalarticle.pdf">facilitators</a> have praised environmental justice in addressing environmental crime. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/three-rivers-are-now-legally-people-but-thats-just-the-start-of-looking-after-them-74983">Three rivers are now legally people – but that's just the start of looking after them</a>
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<h2>Australia is failing to reap the benefits</h2>
<p>Unlike New Zealand, Australian courts have not embraced restorative justice for environmental offending. In fact, Australia has only used restorative justice conferencing in two cases of environmental crime: <em><a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/nsw/NSWLEC/2007/96.html?context=0;query=Garrett%20v%20Williams;mask_path=">Williams</a></em> (2007) and <em><a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/nsw/NSWLEC/2018/205.html">Clarence Valley Council</a></em> (2018).</p>
<p>Both <em>Williams</em> and <em>Clarence Valley Council</em> involved offending against Aboriginal cultural heritage, in breach of New South Wales’s <a href="https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/#/view/act/1974/80/part6/div1/sec86">National Parks and Wildlife Act</a>. The outcomes reached in the conferences went well beyond what a court could have imposed on the offenders. </p>
<p>For example, in <em>Williams</em>, where a mining company built exploratory pits and a private railway siding across areas of Indigenous significance, the maximum penalty at the time was a fine of A$5,500 and 6 months’ imprisonment. The judge suggested the parties engage in a restorative justice conference, during which Craig Williams donated A$32,200 worth of items to the local Aboriginal people.</p>
<p>In <em>Clarence Valley Council</em>, which concerned the council cutting down a protected tree, the council agreed in the conference to donate A$300,000 to the local Aboriginal community to fund research into cultural heritage. The council also agreed to create employment opportunities and youth initiatives for Aboriginal people. </p>
<p>These outcomes are far better in repairing the damage done than a mere fine or prison term. </p>
<h2>Complementary to traditional prosecution</h2>
<p>Despite these significant benefits, restorative justice conferencing is not a replacement for prosecution. It should be used only after the offender has been assessed as suitable, as in the cases of <em>Williams</em> and <em>Clarence Valley Council</em>.</p>
<p>Restorative justice conferencing can be suitable for all sorts of environmental crime, from water pollution to breaches of planning laws. In the case of offending against Aboriginal cultural heritage, conferencing may be appropriate given its ability to give a voice to members of the Aboriginal community who would otherwise be unable to participate in the formal court process. </p>
<p>The ideal time to integrate conferencing is after conviction but before sentencing, which we refer to as a “back-end model” of conferencing (the method most commonly used in New Zealand). </p>
<p>Typically, a back-end model involves the prosecution bringing charges before the court. The court then considers holding a restorative justice conference and, if appropriate, the proceedings are postponed to allow the conference to occur. The matter is later referred back to the court for sentencing. </p>
<p>This creates an opportunity for the sentencing judge to consider any results from the conference, but maintains a court’s essential oversight role by ensuring the outcomes reached are adequate, achievable and legally binding.</p>
<h2>A more environmentally friendly response</h2>
<p>Restorative justice conferencing can provide a more effective way of dealing with environmental harms because, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/climate-talks-pollution-restorative-justice-1.3473076">according to Trevor Chandler</a>, a facilitator in Canada, “punishment makes people bitter, whereas restorative solutions make people better”. </p>
<p>Of course, conferencing is not without <a href="http://www.antoniocasella.eu/restorative/Daly_2005.pdf">limits</a>. Just as restorative justice may not work for <a href="https://theconversation.com/restorative-justice-may-not-work-for-all-young-offenders-4116">all young people</a>, it may not work for all environmental offenders. Conferencing can require more time, money and energy than traditional court processes. However, this may be an investment well worth making for the environment.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/restorative-justice-may-not-work-for-all-young-offenders-4116">Restorative justice may not work for all young offenders</a>
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<p>It is time for Australia to follow New Zealand’s example by embracing a back-end model of restorative justice. </p>
<p>This would give victims a much-needed voice in the process, and create a better chance to heal ruptured relationships and restore the harm done to the environment as far as possible.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115711/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Evidence shows restorative justice can help fix environmental crime – so why isn’t Australia using it more?Dr Al-Alosi, Lecturer, School of Law, Western Sydney UniversityMark Hamilton, PhD Candiate (Law); Sessional tutor in criminology (School of Social Sciences), UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1132372019-03-12T10:45:10Z2019-03-12T10:45:10ZSen. Martha McSally, pioneering Air Force pilot, shows how stereotypes victimize sexual assault survivors again<p><a href="https://aviationweek.com/blog/when-pentagon-first-let-women-fly-combat-1993">Martha McSally was the first woman</a> to fly combat missions for the United States Air Force after the prohibition on female combat pilots was lifted in 1991. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/decision2012/mcsally-no-muslim-garb-at-war/2012/10/25/6f215608-1d38-11e2-9cd5-b55c38388962_story.html?utm_term=.08d61870e468">She later sued the United States Department of Defense</a>, challenging a policy that required servicewomen in Saudi Arabia to wear abaya (full-body coverings) when traveling off-base. In 2014, she was <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Martha_McSally">elected to the House of Representatives</a> and is a currently a United States senator from Arizona. </p>
<p>Martha McSally is a powerful woman.</p>
<p>But when a superior Air Force officer raped her, “I was ashamed and confused. I thought I was strong but felt powerless,” <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/3/7/18254575/martha-mcsally-raped-arizona-senator-republican">McSally said</a>. She blamed herself. And she chose not to report the assault.</p>
<p>The feelings McSally describes are <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-compassion-chronicles/201711/why-dont-victims-sexual-harassment-come-forward-sooner">common among victims of sexual violence</a>. McSally is not alone in her decision not to report her victimization. In 2016, only <a href="https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cv16re.pdf">about 23 percent of rapes were reported</a> to law enforcement. </p>
<p>In my <a href="https://www.law.umaryland.edu/directory/profile.asp?id=982">25 years of representing survivors of gender-based violence</a> as an attorney, I have met hundreds of women like McSally. The shame and powerlessness that these women feel are a direct result of antiquated notions about rape and sexual assault that were, until recently, embedded in the legal system.</p>
<p>Those ideas continue to affect how police, prosecutors and judges see victims of violence and how victims see themselves.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263225/original/file-20190311-86678-1psltvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263225/original/file-20190311-86678-1psltvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263225/original/file-20190311-86678-1psltvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263225/original/file-20190311-86678-1psltvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263225/original/file-20190311-86678-1psltvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263225/original/file-20190311-86678-1psltvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263225/original/file-20190311-86678-1psltvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263225/original/file-20190311-86678-1psltvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">An activist demonstrates after a Brooklyn, N.Y., police captain made a distinction between acquaintance rapes and ‘total-abomination rapes where strangers are being dragged off the streets.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Police-Captain-Rape-Comments/e59f7d4704c34417bb9ed9c41067a408/126/0">AP/Mary Altaffer</a></span>
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<h2>Institutional skepticism</h2>
<p><a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=CZrpZX7a9WAC&oi=fnd&pg=PT207&dq=sourcebook+on+violence+against+women+goodmark&ots=MqtxKJPsWR&sig=zogKOxYWdt-qVNJLb1-aJ-IXRug#v=onepage&q=sourcebook%20on%20violence%20against%20women%20goodmark&f=false">Reforming the law</a> was a priority for the anti-rape movement of the 1970s and 80s.</p>
<p>The rape law of the time both implicitly and explicitly challenged the credibility of complainants. Many states gave jurors a cautionary jury instruction derived from 17th-century English jurist <a href="https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1477&context=ulj">Sir Matthew Hale’s observation</a> that rape “is an accusation easily to be made and hard to be proved.” </p>
<p>Prior to the rape law reform of the 1970s and 80s, the law in most states required rapes to be promptly reported. The failure to make a prompt report suggested that the event was fabricated. </p>
<p>Rape law in many jurisdictions precluded prosecution without corroboration of the victim’s testimony; a rape victim, on her own, could not be a credible witness. Many state laws also required that rape victims fight back against their attackers – <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/11/30/16644394/language-sexual-violence">resisting “to the utmost,”</a> according to the law. </p>
<p>And defendants could introduce evidence about <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0022018317728824">the accuser’s sexual history to undermine</a> the claim that the sex was not consensual. </p>
<p>These laws have, for the most part, been repealed. But the skepticism of rape claims and rape victims underlying these laws continues to shape how the legal system responds to rape and sexual assault. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263228/original/file-20190311-86678-omrky3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263228/original/file-20190311-86678-omrky3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263228/original/file-20190311-86678-omrky3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263228/original/file-20190311-86678-omrky3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263228/original/file-20190311-86678-omrky3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263228/original/file-20190311-86678-omrky3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263228/original/file-20190311-86678-omrky3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263228/original/file-20190311-86678-omrky3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Protesters demonstrate as the Senate Judiciary Committee hears from Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, Sept. 27, 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Supreme-Court-Kavanaugh/758d400db3654d4c900f129fba82fb1b/98/0">AP/J. Scott Applewhite</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Victim credibility</h2>
<p>Official reports detail just how poorly many police departments and prosecutors understand and deal with rape.</p>
<p>A 2011 United States Department of Justice report describes how police in <a href="https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2011/03/17/nopd_report.pdf">New Orleans</a>, for example, asked a victim of sexual assault “if she screamed or resisted the perpetrator.” When she said she had not, the detective asked why not, and commented that “the victim ‘seemed very calm and unrattled.’” The implication, of course, is that a true victim would scream and fight; a calm and unrattled victim is not a credible victim. </p>
<p>In a 2016 report, a U.S. Department of Justice <a href="https://www.justice.gov/crt/file/883296/download">investigation of the Baltimore Police Department</a> documents detectives’ skepticism of victims who delayed reporting and detectives’ suggestions that victims had done something to trigger assaults. Police and prosecutors openly ridiculed victims who they did not believe. </p>
<p>In one exchange, a prosecutor wrote, “[T]his case is crazy. … I am not excited about charging it. This victim seems like a conniving little whore. (pardon my language)”; the officer responded, “Lmao! I feel the same.” </p>
<p>In a 2014 report, the Department of Justice described how <a href="https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2014/02/19/missoula_ltr_2-14-14.pdf">Missoula, Montana</a> police told a woman that “because ‘no one had a limb cut off and there was no video of the incident,’ prosecutors ‘wouldn’t see [her rape] as anything more than a girl getting drunk at a party.’” Between January 2008 and May 2012, the Missoula County Attorney’s Office filed charges in less than 17 percent of the rape cases referred for prosecution. By contrast, in 2012-2013 about <a href="https://repository.asu.edu/attachments/177131/content/2016%20ARS%2041-2406%20Report.pdf">48 percent of sexual assault related arrests</a> resulted in charges being brought in Arizona.</p>
<p>As recently as September 2018, many <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/09/20/donald-trump-questions-christine-blasey-ford-not-reporting-assault/1375642002/">observers dismissed Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s account</a> of being sexually assaulted by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh because of her failure to promptly report. </p>
<h2>Victim stereotypes</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.salon.com/2019/01/05/is-time-finally-up-for-r-kelly-surviving-series-shows-why-hes-been-protected-for-so-long/">Society generally, and law enforcement specifically, still expects rape victims to look and act a certain way</a>. </p>
<p>They should be demure, virginal and blameless; they should not have had previous sexual contact with their attackers; they should be openly emotional about their experiences; <a href="https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=2221&context=facpub">they should report promptly; they should fight to defend their honor</a>. </p>
<p>When rape victims fail to conform to these stereotypes, law enforcement doubts their stories. </p>
<p><a href="https://repository.law.miami.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1497&context=fac_articles">Without a “good” victim</a>, law professor Tamara Rice Lave has argued, police are less likely to make arrests, prosecutors are less likely to bring cases to trial, and judges and <a href="https://impact.ref.ac.uk/casestudies/CaseStudy.aspx?Id=37292">juries are less likely to convict</a>. </p>
<p>These stereotypes affect <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249675348_The_Role_of_Real_Rape_and_Real_Victim_Stereotypes_in_the_Police_Reporting_Practices_of_Sexually_Assaulted_Women">how victims respond to rape and sexual assault</a>. </p>
<p>Women see that the system continues to blame them for being raped. Like Sen. McSally, they don’t report because they don’t believe that the system will work for them. When they do report, they often feel, as McSally described, “like the system was raping me all over again.”</p>
<p>Law enforcement reliance on rape stereotypes heightens the shame, powerlessness and revictimization that women who have been raped feel when they do report – and prevents other women from reporting in the first instance. </p>
<p>The Department of Justice reports cited above suggest that changing the law has not changed attitudes toward rape victims. Only by changing the wider culture will we achieve that goal. </p>
<p>At the University of Maryland Carey School of Law, where I teach, we’re trying to make that cultural change through the <a href="https://www.law.umaryland.edu/Programs-and-Impact/Other-Initiatives/Erin-Levitas-Initiative/">Erin Levitas Initiative for Sexual Assault Prevention</a>. </p>
<p>As we describe <a href="https://www.law.umaryland.edu/media/SOL/pdfs/Other-Initiatives/Levitas_Display_Sheet.pdf">our initiative</a>, “Our goal is to change the way that boys and young men think about women by addressing the attitudes that drive violence.”</p>
<p>The Levitas Initiative will use restorative justice principles, which focus on repairing the harm experienced by victims, to respond to incidents of school-based sexual harassment and educate middle school students on sexual violence. </p>
<p>We hope that restorative dialogue and active accountability will undermine the attitudes and stereotypes that continue to haunt victims of rape – something the law has not been able to achieve.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113237/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leigh Goodmark does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Sen. Martha McSally has broken gender barriers right and left. Despite the power she amassed over a career of firsts, she felt ‘powerless’ when raped. She’s not the only woman to feel that way.Leigh Goodmark, Professor of Law, University of Maryland, BaltimoreLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1118092019-03-07T11:21:27Z2019-03-07T11:21:27ZA prison program in Connecticut seeks to find out what happens when prisoners are treated as victims<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262545/original/file-20190306-100778-ah7ws3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Former Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy speaks with inmates.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Prison-Reform/a95a5bf742c24985a4b65a4cc07a6c3b/1/0">AP Photo/Pat Eaton-Robb</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Prisons are full of people who were once victims of violence and abuse.</p>
<p>As many as <a href="http://www.justice.gov/defendingchildhood/cev-rpt-full.pdf">75 percent of people</a> who are in prison have experienced violence or childhood neglect, according to data from the Department of Justice.</p>
<p>Prisoners report past abuse at rates up to <a href="http://community.nicic.gov/blogs/mentalhealth/archive/2012/10/05/addressing-trauma-among-incarcerated-people.aspx">twice that</a> of the general population. Youth who get caught up in the criminal justice system have experienced <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2794718">chronic trauma</a> at rates triple those of youth in the general population.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/brucewestern/files/lifetimes_of_violence_in_a_sample_of_released_prisoners.pdf">study of people who spent time in prison</a>, conducted by sociologist Bruce Western, found that 42 percent had witnessed a violent death as children.</p>
<p>Advocates of criminal justice reform are beginning to catch up with what social scientists have shown for years: The correlation between being the victim of a crime and committing crime cannot be ignored in serious conversations about sending fewer people to prison.</p>
<p>However, the U.S. justice system focuses almost exclusively on punishing people who commit crimes. What if our justice systems treated victims of violence who harm others as also deserving of healing? </p>
<p>A pilot prison program in Connecticut entering its third year is beginning to answer that question. Connecticut <a href="https://www.vera.org/blog/reimagining-american-prisons-isnt-a-pipedream-after-the-holocaust-germany-reimagined-theirs">modeled the program on a German prison</a> for young people. I visited that German prison and two others last summer as part of research funded by Yale Law School.</p>
<h2>Connecticut’s experiment with rehabilitation</h2>
<p>In May 2018, I toured a prison in Cheshire, a suburb outside of New Haven, Connecticut. That’s where the Connecticut Department of Corrections is running a pilot program called T.R.U.E., which operates on the idea that acknowledging and healing trauma is essential to a successful post-prison life.</p>
<p>T.R.U.E. stands for truthfulness to oneself and others, respectfulness toward the community, understanding ourselves and what brought us here and elevating into success. </p>
<p>During my visit, I met several of the 21 “lifers,” prisoners who are serving decadeslong or life sentences and mentoring 52 younger prisoners. The younger prisoners are between the ages of 18 to 25, and have been convicted of serious crimes such as armed robbery and homicide. Mentors try to equip them with practical, social and emotional skills to earn a living and live law-abiding, productive lives when they are released.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262546/original/file-20190306-100793-gh14ix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262546/original/file-20190306-100793-gh14ix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262546/original/file-20190306-100793-gh14ix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262546/original/file-20190306-100793-gh14ix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262546/original/file-20190306-100793-gh14ix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262546/original/file-20190306-100793-gh14ix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262546/original/file-20190306-100793-gh14ix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262546/original/file-20190306-100793-gh14ix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Inmates Festim Shyuqeriu, left, and Isschar Howard, middle, tour former Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy around a unit of the Cheshire Correctional Institution in Cheshire, Conn., on May 30, 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Prison-Reform/7f0b29fe0e574b58ac6a04f8349b2b8e/2/0">AP Photo/Pat Eaton-Robb</a></span>
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<p>I spoke in-depth with five participants to learn about their work.</p>
<p>Mentors counsel their mentees on confronting their pasts, including how their own histories of being victims of violence relate to their incarceration and how to consider the world from their victims’ perspectives. </p>
<p>Mentors have single cells with doors they can leave open, to encourage the young men they are counseling to drop by for conversations. The private cells are meant to provide the mentors with space for honest, one-on-one talks with the younger men. </p>
<p>T.R.U.E. participants told me that for the first time in their lives, they felt sufficiently safe to let their guard down enough to reflect and learn practical life skills like how to prepare a resume. </p>
<p>T.R.U.E. mentors and correctional officers who sign up to work in the unit <a href="http://www.milpacollective.org/">receive training</a> in how to talk with and counsel people who have survived violence, as many of the mentors themselves have. Mentors then design and teach a curriculum focused on rehabilitation and life skills, ranging from how to do laundry and manage a bank account to how to navigate conflict productively. </p>
<p>Through a simulated banking system the mentors developed, the mentees save mock currency and pay “rent” and “taxes.” They also study in philosophy, economics and English classes led by mentors or local college professors. </p>
<p>When conflicts among T.R.U.E. participants arise, they engage in conflict-resolution circles, where the disputing prisoners sit with other T.R.U.E. residents and engage in guided, structured conversation to de-escalate disagreement. </p>
<h2>The German model</h2>
<p>T.R.U.E. was founded in 2017 after Connecticut’s then-Department of Corrections Commissioner Scott Semple and then-Governor Dannel Malloy toured European prisons on a trip led by the nonprofit research organization, the <a href="https://www.vera.org/blog/dispatches-from-t-r-u-e">Vera Institute of Justice</a>. The Vera Institute’s mission is to improve justice systems to ensure fairness and promote safety.</p>
<p>Semple and Malloy were inspired to establish a prison unit that would focus on young adults, the population <a href="https://ctmirror.org/2017/01/23/a-prison-experiments-with-the-young-reckless-and-neuroscience">most likely</a> to commit crimes and to be victims of crime. </p>
<p>T.R.U.E. is modeled on one of the German prisons the Connecticut delegation visited, in a town called Neustrelitz. I also visited this facility in July 2018.</p>
<p>At Neustrelitz, 19- to 25-year-olds convicted of serious and often violent crimes are provided with comprehensive therapy and vocational and life-skills training. </p>
<p>On my visit, the German correctional professionals I spoke with said the first thing they do when a prisoner enters is conduct a weekslong assessment of their social history, including any history of being a victim of violence or abuse. They then offer treatment and rehabilitation programs based on this detailed information.</p>
<p>My German hosts were puzzled when I asked whether they measure the success of their work by reduction in the number of prisoners who return to prison after their release. </p>
<p>They explained that their work arises out of an inherent <a href="https://thecrimereport.org/2018/04/10/in-germany-its-hard-to-find-a-young-adult-in-prison/">duty to heal</a>, train and teach every prisoner in their care, regardless of the severity of their convictions. They measure their success by delivering therapeutic, educational and vocational programs. The German correctional model is built on the principle that prisons owe training, education and therapy to the people in their custody.</p>
<p>This may seem counterintuitive in the U.S., where the success of justice programs is often measured by whether participants in the programs are re-arrested or return to prison. Can a <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2015/09/25/prison-without-punishment">new way of thinking</a> about justice, such as what is embodied in the T.R.U.E. approach, work in the U.S. system?</p>
<p>Too few T.R.U.E. participants have been released to measure success by whether they will return to prison. However, data show that among a cohort of more than 3,200 Connecticut prisoners, those who participated in programs designed to reduce their risk of being re-arrested were 10 to 12 percent less likely to commit another crime than counterparts who had not participated, six and 12 months after their release. This is according to a report shared with me by the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management.</p>
<p>They also report that T.R.U.E. has had no violent incidents while the participants are in prison. This is remarkable when <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2811042/">data show</a> that 21 percent of prisoners are assaulted within a six-month period. </p>
<p>These data suggest that prison programs that provide a combination of counseling and educational and work opportunities reduce violence and the risk of returning to prison. The Department of Corrections is committed to the model indefinitely and has started a unit like T.R.U.E. in the <a href="https://www.vera.org/blog/dispatches-from-worth/how-young-women-are-building-promise-in-a-connecticut-prison">state’s prison for women</a>.</p>
<p>Building prison programs that heal all victims, including those who have injured others, is consistent with the recognition that people who commit crimes are often survivors of crime themselves.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/111809/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Miriam Gohara receives funding from the Oscar M. Ruebhausen Fund at Yale Law School.</span></em></p>In a pilot program, older prisoners sentenced to life mentor younger prisoners who have a chance to lead productive, lawful lives when they get out. The focus is on healing trauma.Miriam Gohara, Clinical Associate Professor of Law, Yale UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.