ABSTRACT

Many jurisdictions have expressed reservations about the potential of restorative justice (RJ) in cases of sexual violence. Daly focuses on what she sees as the five victims' justice interests – explaining and specifying them explicitly (participation, voice, validation, vindication, offender accountability-taking responsibility) so that they can be empirically compared in response to various justice mechanisms (such as victim–offender mediation, restorative conferences, restorative circles, criminal prosecution, trial, sentencing and victim impact statements). This chapter suggests that finding the right balance between censuring wrongdoing, validating victims' experience of sexual violence, protecting society and providing support through services for both victims and offenders in a society that is committed to the rule of law and due process for citizens is a far-reaching task. In order to advance RJ theory and research, Daly argues that we need to build a body of evidence that can assess and compare justice mechanisms in responding to sexual violence.