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Restorative Justice and Violence Against Women: Comparing Greece and The United Kingdom

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Abstract

While Western societies are striving to become more honest about gender inequality, terms such as ‘violence against women’ have started to appear in policy debates in Asia and worldwide. The response is largely punitive. The option of restorative justice has been considered, but evidence on actual practice with these cases is scarce. Following international attempts to block restorative justice for violence against women cases, this paper argues that a better understanding needs to be developed before further steps are taken in any direction. The authors examined cases from their respective countries, Greece and the UK, to identify common elements, differences and minimum standards when applying restorative justice in cases of violence against women. An abstract implementation mode for further research is constructed.

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Notes

  1. Juvenile delinquency Law 3189.2003, domestic violence – Law 3500/2006, civil and commercial matters 3898/2010, Article 214A of the Greek Code of Civil Procedure (private disputes).

  2. Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999.

  3. Direct empowerment implied the increased capacity to state one’s demands and claims for life without violence, or the increased capacity to handle conflicts through communication. Indirect empowerment is pointing to mediation as an impetus to seek further support and help (Pelikan 2010, unpublished).

  4. The law also provides for victim compensation and community service.

  5. It is worth noting that once the offender agrees to penal mediation, the public prosecutor may lift charges; when the offender does not honour that agreement, the case is submitted nisi prius to the penal records (returned to the original court).

  6. The name of the programme cannot be disclosed due to confidentiality.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Ben Lyon for his help with the UK-based cases, and to Prof. John Winterdyk for providing feedback on an early draft of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Independent Academic Research Studies (IARS), 159 Clapham Road, London, SW9 0PU, UK

    Theo Gavrielides

  2. Justice Studies Department Mount Royal University, Calgary, Canada

    Theo Gavrielides

  3. Psychology Department, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, 136 Sygnrou Av, 17671, Athens, Greece

    Vasso Artinopoulou

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  1. Theo Gavrielides
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  2. Vasso Artinopoulou
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Correspondence to Theo Gavrielides.

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Gavrielides, T., Artinopoulou, V. Restorative Justice and Violence Against Women: Comparing Greece and The United Kingdom. Asian Criminology 8, 25–40 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11417-011-9123-x

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