Restorative Justice and Sexual Assault

Abstract

As restorative justice has grown in popularity worldwide, mainly in response to youth crime, controversy surrounds its use for sexual, partner & family violence cases. With some exceptions, all jurisdictions have put these offences beyond the reach of restorative justice for both youth & adult offenders &, thus, empirical evidence is lacking. This paper presents findings from an archival study of nearly 400 cases of youth sexual assault, which were finalized in court & by conference or formal caution over a six-&-a-half-year period in South Australia, to address these questions: (1) What differentiates a court from a conference case? (2) What happens once a case goes to court, e.g. what share of cases is dismissed & how do penalties vary for court & conference cases? (3) From a victim's point of view, what appears to be the better option -- having one's case go to court or conference? Contrary to the concerns raised by critics of conferencing, from a victim's advocacy perspective, the conference process may be less victimizing than the court process & its penalty regime may produce more effective outcomes. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.