Social polarization is deepening, perceptions of the “the other” are hardening, and across Waterloo Region, identity-based harm is leaving lasting impacts not only on those directly targeted, but on entire communities who see themselves reflected in the harm – shaping the safety, wellbeing, and sense of belonging across the fabric of our communities. Community Justice Initiatives Waterloo Region is proud to share the findings of our Identity-Based Harm Prevention Project: a community-informed initiative that explored identity-based harm across the Waterloo Region.
Community Justice Initiatives has undertaken a project to explore the prevention of identity-based harm in the Waterloo Region. Our working definition of identity-based harm includes any action, behavior, or structural condition that targets, devalues, or excludes an individual or group based on any personal characteristic. These personal characteristics may include race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, ability, faith, culture, language, or socioeconomic status, among others, as well as the ways these aspects of identity intersect with one another.
In 2023, Community Justice Initiatives (Kitchener, Ontario), Community Justice Connect (St. John’s, Newfoundland), and Restorative Justice Victoria (Victoria, British Columbia) began a partnership project, funded by Public Safety Canada, to explore the appropriateness and applicability of restorative justice and restorative practice in preventing and responding to situations of hate and radicalization to violence, and to consider how restorative process might complement existing de-radicalization/violence prevention and response programs
CJI is laying tracks for a restorative region.
