Incorporating Feminist Theory and Insights Into a Restorative Justice Response to Sex Offenses

Abstract

Sex offenses, particularly nonpenetration sex offenses and acquaintance sexual assault, are all too common. Because these crimes reinforce women’s fear of crime and restrict spatial and social freedom, it is paramount for the justice system to act affirmatively; however, it does not. This article identifies several failures in the current response to these sex offenses. We describe the research demonstration project, RESTORE, operating in Pima County, Arizona, which uses a restorative justice response as a way of remedying some of those failures. Identifying central feminist insights that guided the development of that project, the article addresses concerns raised by feminists about the use of restorative justice for gendered violence. We conclude that most if not all of these concerns apply to cases of on going domestic violence—cases specifically excluded from the RESTORE program—rather than to cases of acquaintance sexual assault or nonpenetration sex offenses.

Indecent assault on the public transport in Hong Kong

“…It is such perception in the triviality of the matter which results in for instance the low reporting rate for such crimes (see statistics derived from News Guangdong, 2006). 14 Accordingly, it is not surprising to find several feminist researchers criticizing the laws for providing insufficient protection to female victims of indecent assault due to the male-oriented nature of our laws (Radford and Stanko, 1996;Skinner, 2000;Hopkins and Koss, 2005).…”

‘I Just Wanted Him to Hear Me’: Sexual Violence and the Possibilities of Restorative Justice

“…87 In a similarly optimistic vein, C Quince Hopkins and Mary Koss argue that a restorative justice response which 'triggers some consequences for the violence is at least an improvement' and that, indeed, restorative practices hold 'great potential for deconstructing systemic belief systems and norms on which gendered violence rests' by its possibility to increase community understanding of these offences and encourage more victim-survivors to come forward. 88 Restorative justice, therefore, offers the possibility of therapeutic benefits for some victim-survivors, as well as contributing to a wider sense of justice being done.…”

Restoring Rape Survivors

“…Finally, SVs discover that they are not viewed as individuals who have unique needs and preferences about what consequences the offender should face (Hopkins, Koss & Bachar, 2004). Instead, statutes present standard sentencing guidelines that allow a narrow range of sentencing options.…”