What is community accountability?

Community accountability strategies (defined by the Audre Lorde Project) aim at intervening in, responding to and healing from violence through strengthening relationships and communities, emphasizing mutual responsibility for addressing conditions that allow violence to take place, and supporting people in accountability for violence and harm they’ve caused. 

What is a community accountability process?

Community accountability processes, facilitated by Dynamic Justice Collective facilitators, use a range of creative approaches from trauma-informed, restorative/ transformative, mental health practices that address root causes of violence and/or conflict happening in your communities when you don’t want / can’t access state systems for safety.  

What are the key steps involved in a community accountability process?

The key steps in a community accountability process involve the initial outreach by the community to facilitators, assessing the situation of the conflict/ harm, and the roles of those in the community and facilitators to support this process. We then immediately support those in the community who have been affected by the harm with safety and support plans. We build collective values with all those in the community who have consented to participate in this process and create a timeline, boundary, and confidentiality plan for all participants. 

From this point, the facilitators of the process will support participants in one or small group meetings to reflect on the conflict/harm and assess power dynamics, root causes, and needs for repair and/or resolution. We call this “Pre-work” of the process. Once participants and facilitators feel the necessary “pre-work” is done individually or in small groups, we begin to collectively design a way for all the participants to share, reflect on the conflict and process together, and set support in place for accountability asks to be implemented. Implementation of accountability plans can take anywhere from three months to a year. 

These processes can range anywhere from six months to two years in process. 

Am I expected to forgive the person who hurt me?

As healing justice practitioners, we see the value of forgiveness and repair as tools for justice. However, we will never a person who has been harmed or abused to forgive the person they’ve hurt. We support people harmed (we use this term rather than “victim”) in identifying their needs, building support for safety, and communicating their needs to the larger community in any way they see fit. We work with the larger community to reflect on ways we can show up for people harmed so that we can try to prevent that harm from happening to them again. 

What resources or supports are available to individuals participating in an accountability process?

Along with the one-on-one or small group processing that happens during the “pre-work” phase of the process, we also offer one-on-one counseling services with Ken. Any participating in the process is open to connecting with Ken and scheduling a one-on-one to reflect on how you are feeling and what you may need for support throughout the process. 

Is an accountability process only meant for the person(s) who caused harm?

No. A community accountability process is meant for everyone in the community to participate in. We believe that violence and harm do not happen in isolation. But rather, by a larger community of neglect or norms that are harmful to people and relationships. We work not only with a responsible party (we use this term rather than “offender” or “abuser”) but we support the person harmed in healing and safety, and we work with the larger community to put structures in place to prevent that harm from happening again. 

How do we know when a community accountability process is complete? 

A community accountability process’ goals and timelines are decided by the person harmed, the responsible parties, and the larger community involved in the conflict. Goals and timelines are subject to change and shift as needed by participants and facilitators.

What are the consequences of not following through with an accountability process? 

Consequences in a community accountability process are decided upon collectively by all parties participating in the accountability process. Like most aspects of a community accountability process, these consequences and boundaries are subject to change depending on the participants and facilitators. 

What mechanisms are in place to track and document accountability plans and processes?

Confidentiality is a central part of building safety and trust in a community accountability process. Nothing is shared about the process with other participants or the larger community unless given explicit permission by participants. DJC facilitators may take notes to bring back to their process check-in meetings. However, these notes never contain names and are destroyed once a process has been closed. 

How is a community accountability process different from the criminal system? 

Community accountability does not rely on punishment, isolation, and snap assessments.The criminal punishment system relies on these tools to prevent healing and continue cycles of harm for exploitation and profit. Community accountability relies on systems of safety, care, and consent. Consent invites us all to radically come together and accept our parts in a conflict or harm that has happened in our networks and commit to each other to addressing these issues. Stabilization and safety are needed for all participants to openly reflect on their part of the conflict and their need for healing and/or accountability. Care asks us to show up authentically as ourselves and build communities of care to intervene and prevent the harm from continuing further. 

How can organizations and communities request a community accountability process?

You can request a process by reaching out to queen@dynamicjusticecollective.org or peeplesk@dynamicjusticecollective.org and putting in the subject line “Community Accountability Process Request.” Please briefly describe the conflict and need as well as the best phone to contact more about the process inquiry. If DJC facilitators can hold the process we will reach out with further information. 

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