VicTory - Restorative and victim-centred approach to mitigate hate and (violent) extremism

🌍 What exactly are restorative practices and how can they play a role in P/CVE?    💡According to UNODC, Restorative practices can be defined as an approach that offers people accused of being involved in criminal activities, victims and the community an alternative pathway to justice. It promotes the safe participation of people who endured harm in resolving the situation and offers those accused of it the possibility to accept responsibility for their actions and harm, while providing an opportunity to make themselves accountable to those they harmed. Programme types typically include:  ➡️ Mediation;   ➡️Conferencing;   ➡️Circles;   ➡️Other forms of (direct or indirect) storytelling;   ➡️Dialogue processes.    ❗But how can restorative practices support P/CVE?    Research shows that restorative practices can be applied to address harm to a variety of criminal incidents, including complex cases, which include hate and (violent) extremism. This is especially important as extremism often grows in spaces of marginalisation, mistrust and alienation. Restorative Practices directly address these vulnerabilities by:    ✔Helping people formerly involved in extremist activities to return to society through accountability and trust-building     ✔Teaching empathy, critical thinking and conflict resolution to young people who might be vulnerable to radicalisation    ✔Creating spaces where victims and those accused of causing harm can address the issue towards reconciliation.    🚨The Big Picture: Restorative practices aren’t just about addressing harm, they’re about building a future rooted in understanding and inclusion. In the context of P/CVE, they offer a pathway to not just prevent extremism, but to heal the fractures that fuel it.    💬 How do you see restorative practices shaping the future of P/CVE? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments!    #RestorativePractices #PCVE #VicToryProject

✨As the year is reaching its end, let us look back at what the VicTory has achieved and what is to come: ✅ Solid partnership towards a victim and restorative centred approach to hate and extremism incidents; 🔜Best practices to support victims of hate and extremism-incidents manual; 🔜Participatory and cross-sectoral events for justice and civil society practitioners; 🔜Interactive and victim-focused online platforms;   👉To close the year in the best possible way, the VicTory Team thanks you for all the support, which is paramount to reaching our goals! Let 2025 be even better! Let’s stay connected to achieve sustained change!

The festive season is upon us! On behalf of the VicTory consortium, we wish you a joyful holiday season! We extend our warmest wishes to all our partners, stakeholders, and friends who share our commitment to building a more inclusive and tolerant world. 🌍✨ This season is a reminder of the power of connection, and at VicTory project, we are grateful for the bonds forged in our collective pursuit of ensuring victims’ rights within the field of hate and extremism 🤝 Let's continue to inspire hope, understanding, and collaboration. Together, we can make a lasting impact on individuals and communities, creating a world where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. 💚   Thank you for being a part of the VicTory community. May your holidays be filled with joy, and may the coming year bring even more opportunities for growth, learning, and positive transformation.

💭𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞-𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐞?   In November 2024, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) release its annual hate crime report, which, benefiting from the cooperation of civil society, provides the largest dataset on hate crime in the world.   🔎The results: ❕9 891 reported incidents ❕Antisemitism and xenophobia motivated over half of the reported total number of incidents   Moreover, several gaps and challenges were discovered, namely: ❕Incomplete of inadequate use of legislation ❕Lack of victim support and information ❕Misinformed policy, legal and support practices   👉These results showcase the need to support victims of hate, and those of extremism-motivated incidents through sustained practices. However, this calls for the direct capacitation and greater involvement of key professionals from the justice sector and civil society.

👉In the VicTory project, we believe that a sustainable change requires a steady and comprehensive cooperation. Indeed, this is what drives our activities and outcomes, but also what guides us, as a consortium!     We combine research-driven partners, namely:  🇪🇸 FUNDEA- Fundación Euroárabe de Altos Estudios: The Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies is a renowned Spanish research institute, driven to build space for dialogue and cooperation between different cultures and communities.  🇵🇹 IPS_Innovative Prison Systems: A research-based company aiming to improve and humanise criminal justice systems, with a great experience on the prevention of radicalisation and extremism. 🇵🇹 FDUP: The Faculty of Law of the University of Porto is the leading law and criminology faculty in Portugal counting with the Interdisciplinary Justice Research Centre.    With expert partners, who work directly on the field of victim support and restorative practices: 🇵🇹 ILGA : As the oldest Portuguese NGO focused on the LGBTI+ community in the country, ILGA is driven to ensure the rights, empowerment and sustained integration of the LGBTI+ community and their families.   🇮🇹 Associazione Carcere e Territorio: A restoration-focused Italian NGO, working within the correctional world and with vulnerable populations to improve human rights and social integration.   🇫🇮 MAP Finland: An independent think tank focused on developing community solutions to answer local and social challenges.    🇪🇸 Ararteko Defensoría del Pueblo: As the Ombusdman of the Basque Country, Ararteko defends people’s rights, focusing on local and long-lasting solutions, including restorative-led, towards justice.    And with partners who specialise in human and civil rights when in contact with the criminal justice system, namely:    🇭🇺 HHC: The Hungarian Helsinki Committee is a human-rights based NGO, aiming to ensure human dignity and support, especially for those most vulnerable.     🔐By this unique combination, the VicTory project is paving the way for ensuring the best legal and support practices are used when working with victims of hate and extremism-related incidents, addressing their special vulnerabilities and needs!

🚨𝗪𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝗧𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁! 💭𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘂𝘀? The VicTory project looks at the concerning reality that polarisation, hate and intolerance have been rising in Europe. However, the fact is that the handling of these issues is often focused on the criminal prosecution, leaving the victims’ perspective out of the picture.  Consequently, often, the victims of hate and extremism-related incidents tend to underreport, due to several reasons, such as distrust in the system or lack of information.  👉𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴? ✔Building a victim-centred approach, building upon best legislative practices, to cases of hate and (violent) extremism cases, that brings together justice professionals with those working on the civil society to support victims. 👉𝗛𝗼𝘄? ✔Analysis of best practices and development of informative platforms   ✔Promotion of multi-sectoral cooperation and development of framework for cooperation  ✔Development and piloting of innovative and comprehensive training approaches and materials  ✔Implementation of a restorative-led programme and development of guidelines    📍Stay tuned to learn more!