We believe that all victims of crime should be offered restorative justice and that the state should pay for it.
We stand up for the rights of victims. Usually victims are used by the criminal justice system as witnesses and are then discarded once the sentence has been passed.
Why me? campaigns to make restorative justice more accessible by lobbying government, raising public awareness and influencing professionals.
This is the Why me? policy position (PDF, 200kb).
Professor Heather Strang – an acknowledged expert in the field of restorative justice and in its use for victims - puts it like this:
“Restorative justice, to be effective, must do certain things with respect to victims of crime. Restorative justice theory and practice must recognize the legitimate emotions of victims. It must provide a means for the expression of those emotions. It must create a forum in which the harm caused by crime can be repaired to the satisfaction of those who have directly experienced the harm. Restorative justice, to be truly restorative, must view and respond to crime with victims as utterly central and integral to the process.”
(From Is Restorative Justice Imposing Its Agenda on Victims? Howard Zehr and Barb Toews, eds., Critical Issues in Restorative Justice. Monsey, New York and Cullompton, Devon, UK: Criminal Justice Press and Willan Publishing. Pp. 95-105.)