Recovering Justice was founded in 2013 by a group of people united by their lived and living experiences under the shadow of the UK’s punitive approach to drug use.
We have shared experience of criminalisation and incarceration, state surveillance, and the harsh realities of coercion, control and violence, including state removal of children from their families.
These traumatising events catalysed the creation of Recovering Justice, born from a collective desire to find peaceful solutions to the war on drugs and the policies underpinning these harmful interventions.
“Within the interdependence of mutual (nondominant) differences lies that security which enables us to descend into the chaos of knowledge and return with true visions of our future, along with the concomitant power to effect those changes which can bring that future into being. Difference is that raw and powerful connection from which our personal power is forged”
Audre Lorde
What we do
As partners, we strive to strengthen the democratic sector, ensuring that human rights and community well-being remain at the forefront. While our home region is Europe, we remain open to learning from others worldwide and sharing our insights for a more just and equitable drug policy landscape.
Community Advocates
To empower individuals to recognize their roles as citizens and engage in democratic conversations within their communities. They work tirelessly to ensure that marginalised voices, especially those affected by drug policies, are included and heard.
Safe Spaces
As creators establish and maintain safe, informed, and inclusive spaces where community members can openly discuss drug-related issues. These spaces exist both physically and virtually, fostering dialogue, education, and empathy.
Policy Reform
We collaborate with government bodies and decision-makers to shape drug policies which prioritize participatory methods to amplify the voices of affected citizens, advocating for evidence-based, harm-reduction approaches.
Our work so far
The work Recovering Justice does is predominantly with affected communities to empower them to use their voice of lived experience in a positive way for change. These voices are used to engage and inform policy makers and those in power at a local and national level as well as other organisations involved in drug reform
This involves us creating forums, campaigning and lobbying. Since 2015 we have presented at the national Drink and Drug News User Involvement conference, hosted a panel at the International Conference on Addition and Associated Disorders and at the Sheffield University Hallam centre for Human Rights.
We have spoken at 3 national recovery events in the North East and Scotland reaching over 5000 people in recovery. Recovering Justice attended an executive course hosted by School of Public Policy (SPP) CEU Budapest on drug policy reform after the United Nations General Assembly 2016 -the first recovery organisation to do so.
Attended and presented at a closed workshop Gendered Impacts of Drug policy hosted by SPP. We have also hosted a public event in Glasgow which was attended by three members of the Scottish parliament and the ex-justice Secretary for Scotland and presented as part of a panel discussion at the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna.
One of our co-founders has her personal testimony in the latest GDPC report 2016 on Advancing Drug policy reform: A new approach to decriminalisation. We are community advisors for Mike Barton Durham Chief Constable, Crime Commissioner Ron Hogg, and have hosted 3 engagement workshops with the recovery community, grassroots organisations and service providers.
- Presented at the National Drink and Drug News User Involvement Conference
- Hosted multiple panels at the International Conference on Additiction and Associated Disroders and Sheffield University centre for Human Rights
- Spoken at multiple national recovery events throughout the UK
- Reached over 5000 people in recover
- First recovery organisation to attend School of Public Policy (SPP) CEU Budapest
- Attended, Hosted and Presented as many events including those attended by MSP’s
- Our Co-Founders personal testimony appears in the 2016 GDPC report
“There is no such thing as a single issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives”
Audre Lorde
Funders
Our work would not be possible without the support of our funders and partners
