Welcome, Restorative Justice Champions
What is VIRRJA?
Vancouver Island Region Restorative Justice Association (VIRRJA) is an association of Restorative Justice programs throughout Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast and the Gulf Islands.
Restorative justice is
a way of thinking about
harm and healing
All of us cause harm and experience harm at some point in our lives. In our punitive culture the solutions offered often rely on the criminal legal system to evaluate and adjudicate harms. Yet many harms are not crimes and many crimes are not necessarily harmful. But we know that harm demands a response.
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How might we more effectively respond to harms in our communities? We can begin by using restorative approaches.
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“Restorative Justice (RJ) is a process to involve, to the extent possible, those who have a stake in a specific offense and to collectively identify and address harms, needs and obligations, in order to heal and put things as right as possible.”Howard Zehr, “Little Book of Restorative Justice”
Our Values
We are community members who are passionately committed to embodying RJ practices. We lead with humility and ensure that we are:
Collaborative
Courageous
Equitable
Inclusive
Empowering
Areas of Service Delivery
VIRRJA strives to provide leadership and value to member in the following areas:
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