Sexual harm Restorative Practice Circle for community members

Transforming Justice offers support to anyone in the Hunter Central Coast and New England regions impacted by sexual harm or responding to sexual harm. We offer our support and accept referrals into our programs from within this region.  

We are offering a Community Practice Circle for community members and anyone responding to sexual harm, whether this is part of your work, or through harm that has occurred in your community, family or network.

This Restorative Practice Circle for responders, is part of our "Community based restorative practice project" in the region.

Questions to help your decide if this is the right space for you:

• Do you want to better understand how restorative practices can respond to sexual abuse?

• Would you like a space to reflect on our emotional, physical, relational and spiritual response in this work?

• Would it feel useful to connect with peers to talk about “violence-informed” care?

• Are you interested in learning transformative ways to support one another, while recognising the ongoing impacts of colonisation on our clients, communities and our work?

We have the ability to accept referrals and support community engagement in a specific region. 

What will the circles involve? 
This will be an opportunity for anyone, including people working in organisations, services and networks to connect with others responding to sexual harm disclosures or accountability-taking.

Over three sessions, our Restorative Facilitators will guide a circle discussion on emerging contexts in community responses to sexual harm, to structure support, learning and solidarity with others who take on the important work of offering safe spaces for people harmed, people responsible for harm, and their impacted family members.

There will also be opportunity to learn about the work Transforming Justice does in the community and to consider how engaging in the community based practice project may support the needs of your community and clients. 

This event could be an opportunity for future engagement between TJA and stakeholders in the region which could open pathways for referrals or solidarity with others.

This will also be opportunity to:

• Identify community resources, needs and existing resources 

• Plan future restorative circles to support the people you work with

• Contribute to a community resource or toolkit to support future restorative justice initiatives 

• Learn how to make referrals into any of the programs and supports offered by Transforming Justice  

• Assist with community mapping responses to sexual harm across locations, to further development of existing, pathways or available support across regions.  

We look forward to seeing you in this circle or at one of our other event soon.

Thank you -

Community Practice Project, Hunter New England and Central Coast 

Melissa Brown, Sam Ivancsik & Thea Deakin-Greenwood
Transforming Justice Australia