How this Bengaluru non-profit is creating restorative justice models for women prisoners

While the crime rate in India has been on a steady decline since the 1990s, some studies show that the country’s criminal justice system isn’t designed to repair the harm of crime or prevent it sagaciously. In, a vast and diverse country like India, disparity in economic growth, poverty, unemployment, gender ratio and education have an undeniable correlation to crimes.

In addition, correctional facilities in the country don’t always stay true to the criminal equity framework adopted the world over.

“The idea driving our criminal justice system is—once someone has done wrong, put them behind bars, and justice is served,” Cecilia Davies, Founder of Bengaluru-based non-profit, The Justice Initiative Foundation (TJI), tells SocialStory.

In 2020, Cecilia, teamed up with Andrea (who goes by her first name), a fellow Tata Institute of Social Sciences alum, to start TJI. With a core team of seven people, the organisation operates on the principles of restorative justice, to help undertrials and convicts in Karnataka’s prisons rebuild their lives.

Restorative justice is a response to wrongdoing that prioritises repairing the harm, creating positive relationships for the incarcerated with society, and addressing the root causes of crime—even to the point of transforming unjust systems and structures. In value, it contrasts punitive or retributive justice that focuses on punishing lawbreakers in proportion to the seriousness of the crime and uses this as a way to compensate victims and their families.

“While numerous organisations provide legal support, rehabilitation, and other important resources to the incarcerated, there is a need to identify the root of a crime and approach prevention through healing and reconciliation—something unheard of in Indian courtrooms,” says Cecilia, who has been fighting human rights violations against vulnerable communities for over two decades.

Exploring the ‘why’ behind the crime

Recognising these gaps in the criminal justice system, especially for women prisoners, TJI’s modalities address the underlying factors that lead them to commit crimes—gender-based violence, psychological trauma from patriarchal oppression, and financial dependence, among others.

A case in point is that of Kavitha (name changed) of Tiruvannamalai district, Tamil Nadu.

In 2003, Kavitha was sentenced to lifetime imprisonment for murdering her two daughters. 

She had become a mother to four daughters before she turned 24. Her husband and his family, however, wanted her to bear a son, and Kavitha faced the brunt of their abuse and humiliation. When her husband insisted they have a fifth child, Kavitha, along with her daughters, jumped into a well in an attempt to end their lives. She believed her husband’s family, obsessed with having a male heir, wouldn’t care for the children.

Kavitha was rescued along with two girls, while the other two succumbed. She was sent to Vellore Central Prison where she served 18 years in time.

“While Kavitha was convicted of Section 302 (punishment for murder) of the Indian Penal Code and sent to jail, her husband remarried and started a new family,” says advocate and human rights activist KR Raja, who got her out on humanitarian grounds.

She was 43 years old when she came out. She was malnourished, had mental health issues, and was diagnosed with several ailments including varicose veins. She remains disconnected from her family and earns a measly living tailoring, a skill she picked up in prison. 

“A sizeable number of women in prisons have been convicted for the death of their husbands,” says Cecilia. “While we work with the full awareness that taking someone’s life, no matter the circumstances, is wrong, we also try to find answers to questions no person in authority asks—what was their journey up to the time they committed the crime; could they have done it from a place of deep anger and hurt incited by an unjust system?”

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Building bridges, inside and outside the prison

Cecilia says the most radical question to ask inmates is how they are doing. “No one has ever stopped to do that. That in itself eases them and allows them to open up,” she says.

TJI equips women inmates with knowledge of how the law works, how to get bail, how to keep important documents ready, and so on. It also guides them on how to look after their properties, and helps them with guardianship of their children if they are imprisoned for long periods.

The foundation’s in-prison workshops focus on helping prisoners develop the understanding that they are not defined by a single act of crime and restoring their self-image.

With guidance from mental health consultants, TJI employs theatre, art forms and interactive games to encourage women to rethink their actions and change their responses to life events. Its ‘Theatre of the Oppressed model’ is a participatory art form that inspires life convicts to envision practical actions, reimagine themselves, and foster transformation collectively.

These workshops also promote peer-to-peer emotional support and guidance, empowering former inmates to assist those still in prison.

“Our creative expression workshops are fun and transformative because most of these women haven’t done anything beyond cooking, cleaning, caring for their families and rearing children,” says Cecilia. 

“When they sit down to do Macramé (textile decorations), for instance, it engages them in something productive and is therapeutic for their minds. While we don’t market the products they make, we sell them in stalls we set up across the country, and give back all the proceeds from their sale back to the women,” she adds.

TJI also supports released life convicts in navigating post-release challenges through regular phone calls, home visits, psycho-social support, emergency aid, and meetings to ensure well-being. It has also hired released women convicts as staff.

“Post-release, it’s impossible to trust anyone to support you,” says Vaidehi (name changed), a former convict hired by TJI. “To have a collective of people to handhold you through this transition is invaluable,” she adds.

“I worry about the future even today. But what I am sure of is that I can survive and live on my own terms,” says Mira (name changed), another former inmate.

Outside prisons, TJI organises periodic outings and activities like dance and theatre—which it believes are integral for former inmates' healing and integration into society.

“The change doesn't have to begin with the legal system, necessarily,” says Cecilia. “It can begin with having more conversations about sensitive and robust ways to prevent crimes from happening. In a culture that is less forgiving and more rooted in honour and defence, we cannot be defined by what we do, but rather who we are created to be. This is at the core of our work,” she says.