The History of Justice Options for Women Inc.
During Restorative Justice Week in November of 1999, a workshop on gender issues in Restorative Justice, facilitated by Julie Devon Dodd and Kirstin Lund, was sponsored by the PEI Advisory Council on the Status of Women and attended by individuals and representatives of community and government, including the Restorative Justice Committee, the Evangeline Community Consultative Group, Community Legal Information Association, the PEI Rape and Sexual Assault Crisis Centre, the Advisory Council on the Status of Women, the Inter-Ministerial Women's Secretariat and Family Services Agency.
At this lunch-time workshop people dialogued about issues of violence against women and concerns about women's access to justice and restorative justice. A recommendation of the workshop participants is that this dialogue be continued. A coalition of community and government, called Justice Options for Women for Women Who Are Victims of Violence, and focused on creating opportunities for a community dialogue and input into justice policy regarding issues of violence against women and development of safe and effective responses to violence against women in Prince Edward Island was created.
Over the next fifteen years, Justice Options applied for and received funding from various federal and provincial funding sources, including its main funding partner, Status of Women Canada. Following is a summary of projects undertaken by the organization.
