The Power of Restorative Justice in DEI

According to Canada’s department of justice, restorative justice is

“an approach to justice that seeks to repair harm by providing an opportunity for those harmed and those who take responsibility for the harm to communicate about and address their needs in the aftermath of a crime.”

Federal-Provincial-Territorial Ministers Responsible for Justice and Public Safety (2018). Principles and Guidelines for Restorative Practice in the Criminal Matters. https://scics.ca/en/product-produit/principles-and-guidelines-for-restorative-justice-practice-in-criminal-matters-2018/

In the context of the workplace, restorative justice is a way to course correct or rebalance the scales. It’s about going beyond acknowledging of harm to determining the best ways to heal the individual and the organization. This is a critical step most organizations fail to achieve.

What does social justice look like in the workplace?

In my conversation with Amikaeyla Gaston and Unique Holland, we discuss restorative justice through the 3-pillar framework of World Trust — social justice, healing, and radical imagination. They use the arts to activate advocacy and healing as the core of their work. We discuss the importance of moving beyond the challenges to create ways to remove harm and heal those that are negatively impacted.

This is the work.

What does healing look like?

Amikaeyla states so beautifully –

“For us to be able to fully heal…. we should have in corporate spaces, for that to be acknowledged and recognized. That’s part of reparations for us — we get extra because we’ve been harmed extra.

Part of our healing has to be acknowledging that there has to be a space where we can fall apart and put ourselves back together to make ourselves whole again.”

This conversation on restorative justice touched my soul and opened my eyes to new ways to approach the justice aspect of DEI work. Take a listen and let me know what you walked away with from the discussion.

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Looking for support for your organization’s efforts? Schedule your consultation with The Equity Equation today — https://theequityequationllc.com/dei-consultation/