National Affiliates and Victim-Offender Dialogue

PF Zimbabwe Helping Ex-offenders, Families and Communities Find Healing

Ex-offenders encounter many challenges to living a crime free life once they leave prison. Chief among these are rejection by their families and communities of origin and the fear of revenge on the part of victims or victims' families. As a response to this reality, PF Zimbabwe created the Victim Offender Reconciliation Programme to assist this reintegration process.

Facilitating Reconciliation

Usually the Sycamore Tree Project® brings together victims with “unrelated” offenders, but PF Colombia recently held an STP programme in Bellavista Prison where victims met with the offenders who actually victimized them.

Reconciling Victims and Offenders in Swaziland

As offenders come to understand the harm they have caused, they feel the need to express their remorse and take responsibility for their behaviour. In response to this need, the PF Swaziland reconciliation team assists prisoners in this journey toward healing. When prisoners ask PFS volunteers to relay their apology to the victim, the reconciliation team steps in to visit with the prisoner and the victim. During meetings with the victims, often attended by the prison chaplain, the team members explain the desire of the offender to apologize and meet with the victim. After several meetings with each party, a meeting inside the prison is facilitated by the members of the reconciliation team. Often these meetings end in an offer of forgiveness from those affected by the offending behaviour.

Prison as a Place of Restoration

PF New Zealand has developed a programme bringing victims face-to-face with their offenders. Generally taking place in the prison setting, these safely-structured and facilitated meetings provide victims with the opportunity to tell their story and ask questions of their offenders. Offenders chance to learn how their crime truly impacted the victim and to express remorse for their behaviour. The following story illustrates the potential of victim-offender encounters to create a space for healing.

The Ministry of Reconciliation

The Gospels are an amazing story of reconciliation. It is the heart of the Christian message. Yet reconciliation is not the first thing that comes into the minds of innocent victims who suffer a loss or an injustice. People who lose a loved one to a violent crime will often feel bitter, angry and resentful. Seldom would anyone be inclined to think first of forgiveness and being reconciled to the offender in such circumstances. As difficult as the process of reconciliation is, a growing number of PF ministries are responding to the challenge of helping victims and offenders grow beyond the pain and anger and alienation of their experiences. The results are often miraculous.