Abuser's Intervention Program (A.I.P)
An abuser’s Intervention program is a program that abusers attend, usually as part of the legal system response to an act of domestic violence. An AIP can play an important role in a co-ordinated response to domestic violence, but it is important that victim safety and offender accountability remain the primary goals of a AIP.
- To ensure safety for the partners of group participants in the program.
- To work to end domestic violence by creating a culture of deterrence.
- To ensure the program is collaborating with the justice system, human service providers, and battered women’s programs.
- To teach offenders alternatives to coercive, controlling, and violent behaviour in intimate relationships.
Domestic Violence Safety Dialogue (D.V.S.D)
The Domestic Violence Safety Dialogue program; an innovative, restorative justice approach to healing the effects of domestic violence and empowering survivors of DV (and offenders in many cases) to move forward in life and end the cycle of violence.
- Each participant will engage in ONE dialogue with an unrelated survivor or offender.
- Each dialogue will include six people
- One survivor (unrelated to offender)
- One offender (unrelated to survivor)
- One personal advocate- such as a counsellor- per participant
- Two DVSD trained facilitators- usually one male and one female
- Date and time of the dialogue are mutually agreed upon
- The location of the dialogue is determined by the survivor
- Session length is determined by participants
- Each participant tells his or her story
- Each participant gets the chance to ask questions after the stories.
Restorative Justice (R.J)
Restorative justice is an approach to justice that aims to involve the parties to a dispute and others affected by the harm (victims, offenders, families, etc) in collectively identifying harms, needs, and obligations through accepting responsibilities, make restitution, and taking measures to prevent a recurrence of the incident and promoting reconciliation.
- Preventing re-offending
- Empowering victims
- Benefiting criminal justice agencies
- Enhance community involvement in the dispute resolution process