The experience and insight of survivors who have engaged in a restorative justice meeting with their assailant.

Source: (2013) Temida. 16(1):11-32.

This review study explores the experiences of survivors of sexual violence who
engaged in a restorative justice (RJ) meeting with their assailant to ascertain
whether the process contributes to, or further compounds, their recovery. This paper forms
a small part of a more extensive scoping review employing Arksey and O’Malley’s (2002)
framework. The search was confined to articles/reports published in English. Initially,
58 sources were identified as suitable for inclusion and each of these sources were then
scrutinised to identify accounts of survivors of sexual violence who have taken part in RJ
initiatives that have involved a face­to­face meeting with the assailant. This revealed 10
applicable cases, from across four different countries. The findings suggest that under
certain circumstances survivors of sexual violence might receive significant benefit
from participating in RJ. The specific conditions under which the benefits appear to be
forthcoming and areas for future research are discussed. (author’s abstract)