🛡️ Safety & Conflict Resolution
How we protect each other and resolve harm
The Problem
Safety is outsourced to punitive systems that often create more harm than they prevent. Police and prisons disproportionately affect marginalized communities. Conflict is treated as something to suppress, not resolve. Communities lack the tools to protect themselves or recover from disaster.
The Alternative
Community Safety Networks
Trained community members responding to mental health crises, domestic disputes, and neighborhood concerns. De-escalation, mediation, and care — not just force.
Restorative & Transformative Justice
When harm occurs, bring together those who caused harm, those who were harmed, and the community. Understand root causes. Repair damage. Transform conditions that produced the harm.
Mutual Aid & Disaster Resilience
Neighbors organized to help each other in emergencies — storms, fires, pandemics, economic crises. Preparedness plans, shared resources, and communication networks.
Root Cause Prevention
Address the conditions that create harm: poverty, isolation, trauma, inequality. Safe communities aren't policed communities — they're connected, supported ones.
Start Here
- ✓Get trained in conflict mediation and de-escalation
- ✓Build relationships with your neighbors — know who needs help
- ✓Create a neighborhood emergency preparedness plan
- ✓Support restorative justice programs in your area
- ✓Start a mutual aid network for your community
Already Happening
Cure Violence Global
Chicago, USA (30+ countries) · Est. 2000
Treats violence as a contagious disease, deploying trained 'violence interrupters' to detect and defuse conflicts before they escalate. Endorsed by WHO as an evidence-based approach to violence reduction.
CAHOOTS
Eugene, Oregon, USA · Est. 1989
Dispatches medic-and-crisis-worker teams to respond to non-criminal 911 calls involving mental health, substance use, and homelessness — without police. Has inspired similar programs in dozens of US cities.
Common Justice
Brooklyn, New York, USA · Est. 2008
The first alternative-to-incarceration program in the US for violent felonies in adult courts. Uses restorative justice circles bringing together survivors and those who caused harm to reach accountability.
Advance Peace
Richmond, California, USA · Est. 2010
Runs the Peacemaker Fellowship — 18-month mentorship for individuals most likely involved in gun violence. Combines life-skills, trauma support, and milestone stipends. Credited with significant reductions in firearm assaults.
Fambul Tok
Sierra Leone · Est. 2007
Facilitates community-owned reconciliation in post-civil-war Sierra Leone through traditional bonfire ceremonies where victims and perpetrators share stories and seek forgiveness. Peace built from the grassroots up.
Community Peace Programme (Zwelethemba)
Cape Town, South Africa (180+ sites) · Est. 1998
Trains local Peace Committees to resolve disputes through dialogue instead of police intervention. 99% resolution rate, adapted in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Australia, and Uganda. Has helped over 460,000 people.
Policing Alternatives & Diversion Initiative (PAD)
Atlanta, Georgia, USA · Est. 2017
Provides community-based crisis response and diversion from jail for people whose police encounters stem from poverty, mental health, or substance use. Offers care navigation and a walk-in Diversion Center.
Nonviolent Peaceforce
Geneva, Switzerland (10+ countries) · Est. 2002
Deploys trained, unarmed civilians to protect communities in violent conflicts through presence and relationship-building. Endorsed by nine Nobel laureates, trained 26,000+ individuals.
Igarape Institute
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil · Est. 2011
Think-and-do tank focused on citizen security and violence prevention across Latin America and Africa. Tracks 1,300+ interventions in 20+ countries through its Citizen Security Dashboard.
Mediators Beyond Borders International
Washington, D.C., USA (33+ countries) · Est. 2006
A global network of 200+ conflict resolution specialists providing mediation and peacebuilding training, with regional hubs across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Mediation Northern Ireland
Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK · Est. 1991
Provides conflict resolution services across Northern Ireland since the Troubles. Works at grassroots, organizational, and political levels — 'systemic mediation' — for three decades.
Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute
Davao City, Philippines · Est. 2000
An Asian peacebuilding training center born from decades of conflict in Mindanao. Offers courses in conflict transformation, restorative justice, trauma healing, and interfaith dialogue.
Ujamaa Africa
Nairobi, Kenya (5 African countries) · Est. 2007
Prevents gender-based violence through school programs combining self-defense for girls with positive-masculinity education for boys. Achieved 50% reduction in reported sexual assaults.
READI Chicago
Chicago, Illinois, USA · Est. 2017
Combines cognitive behavioral therapy with paid transitional employment for highest-risk individuals. 79% fewer shooting arrests. Every dollar returns $3.50-$17.70 in reduced violence costs.