Restorative Justice Project

Healing through Dialogue

Domestic Violence Prevention Network (DVPN) is humbled to introduce our Restorative Justice Project, a new initiative designed to offer a survivor-led approach to healing, justice, and success not often found through the criminal justice system. This initiative focuses on the restoration and healing of individuals who have been impacted by domestic violence harm within the Black and African American community. This program is part of our three-year community-wide plan focusing on those who have been disproportionately affected by domestic violence.

Understanding the Need

Black women experience domestic violence at a rate 2.5 times higher than white women. About 29% of Black women are victimized by an intimate partner in their lifetime, according to the CDC. These alarming statistics reveal the oppressive and violent ways that anti-Black racism dehumanizes Black bodies- historically and presently. Anti-Black racism and other harms play a part in perpetuating violence inside of the Black community. As such, there is an urgent need for a focused approach to break the cycles of violence, confront systems of oppression, and heal generational trauma.

The Restorative Justice Approach

Our Restorative Justice Project seeks to provide an intentional space and healing tools for those who have been harmed and those who have caused harm. This approach allows survivors to find their own path to justice and healing outside of the traditional criminal justice system, which often falls short in addressing their needs. This approach also allows those who have caused harm to be met with high support and high accountability as they work through their own healing and find healthier tools to allow them to live in community

Program Components

• RJ Advisory Council: Engaging community members and partner organizations to provide guidance and support for the program’s implementation.
• Healing Circles: Creating intentional spaces for survivors and their network of support to reach self-established goals for healing. Both causers of harm and those who experienced it will work on survivor-established goals to which all parties agree. Ample time and space will be provided to work through personal pain and find healing.
• Restorative Conversations: Facilitated dialogues aimed at repairing harm and restoring fractures in the community, one relationship at a time.
• Support Groups: Offering ongoing emotional and social support for participants who have been impacted by domestic violence harm.

Goals and Impact

By focusing on healing and providing access to appropriate resources, the Restorative Justice Project aims to:

• Reduce domestic violence rates within the Black and African American community.
• Allow space for self-empowered survivors to find their own paths to justice.
• Address and break the cycle of generational trauma.
• Uncover generational joy embedded within the Black and African American community.
• Foster a supportive and informed community that stands against domestic violence.

Get Involved

We invite community members, organizations, and individuals to join us in our mission to change the culture that leads to domestic violence and support those affected. Together, we can create a safer, more just society for everyone.

For more information or to get involved, please contact Rebecca@dvpnindy.org or RJ@dvpnindy.org