W H A T I S H A R M ?

We all cause harm--it is a part of life. Some harms are larger than others, and abolition is not about excusing or minimizing the true harms anyone experiences. We must separate harm and accountability from "crime."

Harm can be interpersonal: when a person does to another person or group. AND

Harm can be structural: when the state carries out oppression or violence, legal or extralegal.

Interpersonal and structural harms are connected. When one person hurts another, the harm can often be traced back to the harms which the state and its economic and social institutions are committing in oppressed communities.

Accountability is a practice of addressing harm which begins with oneself. It is a recognition of our harm-doing, a process of reparation, and a commitment to transformation. Accountability is integral to abolition and a transformed future.