Doctoral Dissertation Research: Beyond the Law: Responding to Sexual Violence with Restorative Justice

Restorative justice programs in the United States have seen success in cases involving juveniles and minor crimes. However, using restorative justice in the area of sexual violence remains contentious. It is still largely unclear how alternative justice meets survivors’ needs and still enacts offender accountability. This research project will examine the lived experience of restorative justice to better understand to what extent restorative justice reproduces systematic harm in cases of sexual violence while challenging the existing criminal justice system.