Restorative Justice Responses to Sexual Assault

A large international literature promotes restorative justice options as satisfying and empowering to crime victims. This paper examines restorative justice for sexual assault from the perspective of three groups of survivors: (a) adults victimized by adult perpetrators; (b) adults or juveniles victimized by juveniles; and (c) adults sexually molested as children by adults. Sexual violence within a violent intimate relationship such as domestic violence is excluded from consideration. The use of restorative justice in cases of domestic violence is the subject of another VAWnet document by Ptacek and Fredericks (2008). Although it may involve forced sexual relations, domestic violence, compared to adult sexual violence, is more likely to involve longer standing and more committed relationships, multiple co-occurring forms of psychological and physical violence, repetitiveness and often escalation of the abuse over time, and the involvement of children directly or as witnesses (Hopkins, Koss, & Bachar, 2004). Our key terms are defined as follows. The term survivor/victim is used throughout to retain the empowerment conveyed by the word " survivor " and the outrage implied by the word " victim. " The word offender is used to refer to the person responsible for perpetrating forced, unwanted sexual activity, without implying that an arrest has been made or charges issued. Rape is defined as unwanted oral, anal, or vaginal penetration against consent through force, threat of force, or when incapacitated. The term sexual assault references a broader range of contact and non-contact sexual crimes up to and including rape. The term restorative justice applies to programs that view crime as a violation of people and relationships, causing harm for which offenders and communities are accountable and have an obligation to repair (Umbreit, Vos, Coates, & Lightfoot, 2006). A restorative justice conceptualization involves three constituencies: (a) survivor/victims and secondarily victimized family and friends who suffer distress along with their loved one; (b) community members who experience less safety and social connection when they perceive high levels of crime and low deterrence, yet who simultaneously may be contributing to an environment supportive of sexual violence; and (c) offenders as well as their families and friends, who experience guilt and shame that is associated with being accused of a sexual crime or belonging to the interpersonal relationship context from which the offense arose. Restorative justice is implemented through a range of formats; those that have been used to address sexual assault will be defined later. …