Know Her Name: Open Dialogue on Social Media as a Form of Innovative Justice

Abstract

Innovative justice focuses on crime victim needs, support, and healing outside of criminal justice systems. We use the recent public coming forward of Chanel Miller—the survivor in the Brock Turner case—to interrogate innovative justice for sexual assault survivors on social media. By qualitatively analyzing Miller’s Instagram account, we found that it was a platform for innovative justice by being a visual space to process emotions, modeling growth and healing, and offering validation and hope. We offer the concept of victim-centered public dialogue (VCPD), which allows for the public witnessing and possibility for personal disclosures in online spaces that contribute to a process of growth and healing for survivors.