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Victims, Survivors or Political Pawns?
Hearing the Voices: Sharing Perspectives in the
Victim/Survivor Sector
Katy RadfordSara Templer
Hearing the Voices: Sharing Perspectives in the Victim/Survivor Sector
• Commission: Northern Ireland Community Relations Council (CRC)
• Aims:• Capture voices and experience• Consider challenges and opportunities• Explore commemoration, memorialisation,
trans-generational issues• Develop recs. for Govt., the Commissioner and
the Sector
(http://www.community-relations.org.uk/filestore/documents/crc-voices-report.pdf)
"Hearing the Voices: Sharing Perspectives in the Victim/Survivor Sector"
- Victims, Survivors or Political Pawns?
Five key themes
• Language• Relationships and Trust Building• Networks of Support• Trans-generational Issues• Material Memorialisation
"Hearing the Voices: Sharing Perspectives in the Victim/Survivor Sector"
- Victims, Survivors or Political Pawns?
Focus of Presentation
1. Methodology• KEY OBSERVATION: Research methodologies need
to be tailored to suit the needs and circumstances of individuals in this sector.
2. Theatre of Change• Language• Commemoration in the changing context• Symbolic and Material Memorialisation
"Hearing the Voices: Sharing Perspectives in the Victim/Survivor Sector"
- Victims, Survivors or Political Pawns?
1. Methodology
Relationships, Trust building and networks of support• ‘Open Heart’ (relationships and community
and personal development)• Ethics (use of language, encourage
dialogue)• Action-based (common ground, direction,
recommendations)
"Hearing the Voices: Sharing Perspectives in the Victim/Survivor Sector"
- Victims, Survivors or Political Pawns?
2. The theatre of changeLanguage, Commemoration and Trans-
generational issues• Changing policy and governance context• Role players:– OFMDFM– Victims’ Commissioners– Statutory Service Providers– Community-based Victim/Survivor Support Groups– Families, Young People
• ‘Remembering’ as:– Commemorative sites and activities– Service delivery, listening, acknowledgement
"Hearing the Voices: Sharing Perspectives
in the Victim/Survivor Sector" - Victims, Survivors or Political Pawns?
Language – Definitions and key words• Victims • Typology
• Victims of paramilitary, sectarian and anti-state action• Victims of actions taken by the state• People who have ‘disappeared’ or been disenfranchised,
exiled, killed by ‘their own’ or otherwise vanished• People who have been traumatised or suffered as a
result of witnessing, incorporating, embedding violence in their psyche.
• Perpetrators• Combatants, Paramilitaries, Sate Actors, Armed Groups• Conflict/War/Troubles• Survivors• Other Terms and Concepts
"Hearing the Voices: Sharing Perspectives in the Victim/Survivor Sector"
- Victims, Survivors or Political Pawns?
Commemoration and Memorialisation (1)
• The purpose of remembrance– “To hold the sacrifices made by loved ones in honour and
respect.”– “To ensure that the sacrifices and suffering of the past are not
forgotten.”– “To communicate the message that “never again” should such
loss be suffered.”– “To ensure that the stories and experiences of the past are not
lost to our own and future generations: to keep the stories alive.”
– In the case of memorials: “to provide a visual focus and in some cases a beautiful physical place for remembrance and peaceful reflection.
"Hearing the Voices: Sharing Perspectives in the Victim/Survivor Sector“
- Victims, Survivors or Political Pawns?
Commemoration and Memorialisation (2)
• Private and public commemoration• The role of education• ‘Sharing’ and commemoration• Shared memorials
"Hearing the Voices: Sharing Perspectives in the Victim/Survivor Sector" - Victims,
Survivors or Political Pawns?
Recommendations made in relation to ‘remembering’
1. For Government
2. For Commissioner(s)
3. For Community Groups
"Hearing the Voices: Sharing Perspectives in the Victim/Survivor Sector"
- Victims, Survivors or Political Pawns?
Victims, Survivors and Political Power
• In international experience• In the local context
Memory can be “manipulated to serve political power, and the ability to manipulate memory is, in itself, a measure of that power”.- Hirsch, Genocide and the Politics of Memory (1995:22)
"Hearing the Voices: Sharing Perspectives in the Victim/Survivor Sector"
- Victims, Survivors or Political Pawns?
Contact details
Dr Katy [email protected] 08586842Institute for Conflict Research
2, Duncairn GardensBelfast BT15 2GG028 90742682
Sara [email protected] 66842122
"Hearing the Voices: Sharing Perspectives in the Victim/Survivor Sector"
- Victims, Survivors or Political Pawns?
