ABSTRACT

This chapter outlines a restorative engagement of men that prepares them to repair the harms they have created for their partners in an effort to achieve just outcomes for women. It focuses on the initial conversations with men, drawing on the work of the Bridges Institute and New Start Counselling. This work has been conducted primarily with men who are mandated by courts to attend a community-based domestic violence intervention program. The men’s and women’s quotations are used with permission and are taken from either their written evaluations or transcribed from video. The chapter elaborates on preparing men to address the effects of their abuse on the women they have harmed. A restorative approach defines just outcomes primarily in terms of repairing and healing the effects of the men’s violence on women, restoring women’s safety, respect, and equality. This approach is a principled approach rather than a particular practice.