This is a guest blog by Claire Standen, founder and CEO of Reclamation, SCIO status pending.
In January 2026, I hit send on an email that I had no idea would change the direction of my life.
I wrote to the Church of Scotland asking a simple question: what would restorative justice look like for the women persecuted during Scotland’s witch trials?
Between the 1500s and 1700s, thousands of people, most of them women, were accused of witchcraft. In 2022, both the Church of Scotland and the Scottish Government issued formal apologies acknowledging their role in those persecutions. The apologies were an important milestone, achieved through years of campaigning by Witches of Scotland and others.
But I found myself wondering whether an apology is the end of the story, or the beginning.
First came the apology. What comes next?
One of the principles that draws me to restorative justice is that it asks not only ‘what happened?’ but ‘what needs to happen now?’.
In many restorative processes, the person who has been harmed has the opportunity to describe what repair might look like. With historical injustice, that isn’t possible. The people who experienced the harm are no longer here.
Instead, we are left with difficult questions. How do we honour those who came before us? Who carries responsibility? What meaningful repair is possible generations later?
These questions led me to make what initially felt like an impossible request.
I asked the Church of Scotland to donate a church building that could become the world’s first Centre for Female Authority- a place dedicated to restoring women’s voices, leadership and collective wisdom.
Whether or not that specific proposal comes to fruition, it represents my attempt to move the conversation from apology towards repair.
When the harm outlives the event
Some people have asked what gives me the right to speak.
The truth is that I don’t claim to represent the women who were executed. I may well be descended from those who participated in the persecutions rather than those who suffered them.
What I do believe is that a campaign of terror carried out over two centuries leaves legacies that extend beyond those who directly experienced it. Violence that systematically silences a group does not disappear simply because centuries have passed. Its effects can continue culturally, socially and psychologically, shaping whose voices are heard, whose authority is recognised and whose knowledge is trusted.
For me, restorative justice invites us to ask whether acknowledging that legacy is enough – or whether repair requires action as well.
I don’t pretend to have all the answers.
But restorative justice has taught me that difficult conversations are often where transformation begins. Sometimes the most important question we can ask is not whether repair is perfect, but whether we are willing to attempt it.
That is the question I hope this campaign continues to explore.
The campaign for reparations is at its early stages, but gaining huge traction. If you feel called to be involved, please reach out to Claire at claire@ourreclamation.org.
