Can the Criminal Justice System be

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Can the Criminal Justice System be
victim-centred

• Dr Nicole Westmarland
• 1st North East Conference on Sexual Violence

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• Todays presentation
• Outline of my argument
• Parallel Justice
• Why this is a good idea

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• Outline of my argument
• Government rhetoric about putting the victim at
  the heart of the criminal justice system is a
  myth
• Within our criminal justice system the victim is
  a witness our system is not designed to deal
  with victims of crime
• The system as it stands is failing victims and
  needs to get its house in order regarding
  conviction rates (minimum consistency)
• That we should move away from the idea that the
  criminal justice system in itself can do
  justice to victims
• The parallel justice system in the USA is a good
  model of where we need to go with our system
• Rape Crisis and other support services are
  already doing a different form of justice, and
  this form of justice needs recognising.

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What is Parallel Justice? The concept of
Parallel Justice elevates the goal of helping
victims rebuild their lives to a fundamental
component of justice. Parallel Justice requires
us to decouple the pursuit of justice for victims
from the administration of justice for offenders.
Under a system of Parallel Justice the societal
message to victims would be, What happened to
you is wrong and we will help you rebuild your
life. (National Center for Victims of Crime
website)
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Poster text Bars and Bandaids aren't enough. We
spend billions of dollars every year on a system
that deals with criminals. It's time to invest in
helping victims of crime rebuild their lives.
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Some guiding principles

• Victims want to feel safe, recover from the
  trauma theyve suffered, and regain control of
  their lives.
• We have merely tinkered with a system that was
  created for very different purposes and hoped it
  would meet the needs of victims.
• We need to separate the pursuit of justice for
  victims from the administration of justice for
  offenders.
• Imagine a society that felt that justice required
  that every effort be made to help all victims of
  crime.
• The first principle of parallel justice is that
  we marshal government resources to help victims
  feel safe and get back on track.
• It is in our interest as a nation to help victims
  of crime. The justice we seek will also produce a
  safer society.
• (Quotes from Heenan, National Center for Victims
  of Crime).

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Why this is a good idea 1 The current system is
not working the attrition problem
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If you were raped by someone you knew, would you
report it to your local police? Survey of Rape
Crisis workers
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Why this is a good idea 2 Its what survivors
want victim satisfaction Why this is a good
idea 3 It would reduce the impact of rape harm
minimisation Why this is a good idea 4 It
would save money positive cost benefit ratio
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Feedback from women who have used Rape Crisis

• Life changing and life saving
• Felt understood and not judged or blamed
• Better able to cope with life
• Came off medication/stopped using drugs and or
  alcohol
• Improved relationships with children/partners etc
• Increased self confidence and self esteem
• I now know that what happened to me was not my
  fault
• Decreased or completely stopped self harming
  behaviours
• Overcame phobias
• Started college/volunteering/training
  course/returned to work

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Conclusion

• Rape survivors stuck in systems that are
  inappropriate to their needs (e.g. mental health,
  immigration, probation, prisons) should be
  diverted to more appropriate services that can
  deal with their experiences of abuse.
• Justice for survivors of rape can only be
  obtained through an increased confidence in the
  criminal justice system and properly funded Rape
  Crisis Centres to provide them with holistic
  support to enable them to move on with their
  lives.