This panel (made up of women with both professional expertise and lived experience) will explore the intersection of victim survivors’ experience of the justice system and experiences of victimisation and violence, with a particular focus on resistance and responses to the violence.
The discussion will explore CRC’s Miranda Project, which works with female and non-binary people who are at risk of both imprisonment and family/domestic violence. Operating since 2017, outcomes for the clients of the project have been remarkable both in terms of reduced justice system involvement and building pathways away from violence. This panel will examine the work of the Miranda Project specifically, as well as the broader structural and cultural factors that contribute to women’s over-imprisonment. Many of Miranda’s clients have incarceration trajectories that are directly related to their experience of violence – including, for instance, using self-protection strategies. The panel will ask questions about resistance to violence, and what this can and does look like. How do we respond to women who have experienced violence, including women who are labelled as perpetrators? How do we find ways of better understanding the impact of violence and victimisation on behaviour – including behaviour that is criminalised? In recognition of the ongoing over-representation of First Nations women in the criminal justice system, the panel will also consider models of healing. What can we learn from Aboriginal healing strategies? How do these differ from other models of support? And what options are genuinely available for women who are so often excluded from services because of both their history of incarceration and the complexity of their presentation?
Presenters
Marisa is a counsellor and psychotherapist with 20 years’ experience in the community sector in various roles working with victims of violence. In recent years, as Program Manager of CRC’s Miranda Project, she has turned her attention to working with women impacted by the criminal justice system who have been victims of violence, and the ever-increasing over-representation of First Nations women in the criminal justice system. Marisa is passionate about working with victims to have their voices heard and their resistance recognised, advocating for every individual’s right to safety, dignity and equality, as well as the cultural, societal and systemic change needed to reduce injustice and violence for future generations.
