In an open letter to provincial Attorney General Doug Downey, Survivors 4 Justice Reform says Crown Policy D4 should be revised to allow survivors of sexual violence to access restorative justice options when they choose to pursue that path. It says the current policy fails survivors by denying them the opportunity to engage in processes that better reflect their healing and justice needs, as the adversarial nature of the criminal justice system can lead to re-traumatization.
Lola Graham, co-representative of the Ontario chapter of Survivors 4 Justice Reform, said many cases of sexual assault are not reported to the police as people feel unsafe doing so, or they feel the outcomes aren’t going to be effective for them.
“I think the letter is really a call to ask the province if you’re considering this to be such a serious crime, why wouldn’t we open up alternatives that have been shown to create more reporting and accountability?” she said.
The letter said restorative justice empowers survivors by allowing them to define their own healing, because they are given space to articulate the impact of the harm that has been done to them and engage in a process where their voice is centre stage, while facilitating deeper accountability by focusing on the harm caused and requiring those responsible to take meaningful steps toward repair.
There are several ways a restorative justice process can move forward, said Graham. She noted some are done with facilitated mediation, where the survivor and offender come together to discuss why the harm happened, how it has impacted their lives, and what can be done to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“A restorative process really focuses on how the process can start that healing process and actually make it possible for the survivor to move forward in a way that they feel reintegrated with the community, less isolated and that their voice matters,” she said. “Ideally on the other side, too, the person who caused the harm is given a new way to understand how that harm actually creates an impact in the world and how to become a better member of society. And of course that is not going to happen in every case, but at least the opportunity is there.”
Downey’s press secretary Charlotte Carron said in an email that the Ministry of the Attorney General has received the letter and is currently reviewing its contents.
“Our government values the voices of victims — we recently introduced new measures to improve comprehensive support for survivors and took action to ensure violent, repeat offenders are held accountable,” she said. “We remain steadfast in our plan to end gender-based violence and combat intimate partner violence, so that survivors are treated with respect and dignity from beginning to end.”
Graham acknowledged that some people look on restorative justice programs as being “soft on crime,” but her response to those individuals is to put themselves into the shoes of a person who has been hurt, and hopefully they realize those people should have the agency to decide what they need moving forward.
“I don’t believe a survivor should ever be pushed into [restorative justice], and I think safety mechanisms should be put in place to make sure that there is not an abuse of power happening,” she said. “But we’re calling it soft on crime, and yet we’re not actually getting accountability through the criminal legal system — so I would say that the legal system has actually been soft on crime in the process.”
More information about Survivors 4 Justice Reform can be found here.
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