This is a part of No Pride in Prisons’ Abolitionist demands. These demands were originally published as a book. To see a pdf of the book, click here. To buy a copy, please email info@noprideinprisons.org.nz

As prison abolitionists, it is our responsibility to provide sensible alternatives to the prison. Alongside the re-institution of tikanga Māori, our suggestion is the system of transformative justice.

Adopting a system of transformative justice in the place of the prison means abandoning the project for creating enemies to exile and isolate, as well as the project for creating profitability out of the isolation of those ‘enemies.’ Rather than demonising and incarcerating perpetrators in inhumane conditions, transformative justice begins from the understanding that people who are hurt in turn hurt others. This hurt can stem from events specific to the perpetrator’s life, such as physical or sexual abuse that they then go on to re-enact, or from more structural factors, such as poverty and colonisation. Transformative justice understands that the isolation and cruelty of incarceration only exacerbates such suffering, thus reinforcing the roots of the harm enacted by a perpetrator. Instead, transformative justice looks to protect the victim and address the issues behind the perpetrator’s actions, transforming their conditions and attitudes for the better.

For a full discussion of community-based solutions to harm and violence, see demand 10.