We’re on a mission to give survivors of sexual harm
access to restorative justice.
The Problem:
Sexual violence harms individuals, communities, and workplaces alike. Survivors lack safe spaces to be heard and supported, while those who cause harm rarely have opportunities to take accountability in meaningful ways. These gaps leave trauma unaddressed, relationships strained, and cultures of silence intact.
The Failure of Punitive Responses:
Survivors have the option of seeking a criminal prosecution, a lawsuit, a human resource investigation in workplace settings, and a Title IX investigation in school settings. These interventions focus on the person who caused harm: identifying which rule was broken, proving guilt, and imposing a punishment. This approach exacerbates the trauma of survivors as well as the problematic behavior of people who cause sexual harm.
The Solution:
Just People offers restorative pathways that bring healing, accountability, and community support into the response to sexual harm. Through facilitated dialogues, circles, and trainings, we create spaces where survivors voices and needs are at the center of the process, where those who caused harm can take responsibility, and where relationships and cultures can begin to repair.
Join us for Second Sundays
Just People is launching a monthly speaker series on Zoom the Second Sunday of each month for survivors, advocates and allies curious about restorative responses to sexual harm. Together, we’ll explore the transformative perspectives and practices of restorative justice and imagine responses to sexual harm that move beyond punishment and silence toward accountability, healing, and community. Each gathering will invite participants to engage and reflect with some of the leading voices in the field.
April: Alissa Ackerman of Ampersands Restorative Justice in California, on victim-centered restorative interventions.
May: Chris Godsey of the MN Dept of Corrections’ apology letter program, on the elements of meaningful apologies.
June: Kay Pranis, international expert on Circles, on the assumptions and theories underlying a restorative response.
July: Felicia McCrary, of the Office of Student Conflict Resolution at the University of Michigan, on a program for students found responsible for sexual and gender-based misconduct on college campuses.
August: Loren Linscott, a violence prevention & response consultant, on the roles of men and masculinity in building a restorative culture.
September: Kurt RuKim, RJ practitioner and sex educator, on restorative approaches to sex education.
October: Tim Chapman, international scholar from Northern Ireland, on restorative interventions to sexual harm within large institutions.
November: Amber Schroeder, ED of the national Association for the Treatment & Prevention of Sexual Abuse, on the elements of treatment for people who have caused sexual offenses.
December: Alicia Nichols, Director of the MN Office of Restorative Practices, on transforming systems to be restorative in principle and practice.
Our Services
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Voluntary, intentional conversations between people who have been victimized and people who have caused harm. This could be a 1-1 facilitated dialogue or a facilitated circle process with everyone involved (and their support people).
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People often do not know what to do or how to respond after someone in their life has experienced sexual harm. We help individual survivors gather their friends, family and community members to support their healing process.
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Coming soon.
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Join us for our Second Sundays series.
“Survivors of violence, who know in their bones the truths that many others would prefer not to know, can lead the way to a new understanding of justice. The first step is simply to ask survivors what would make things right - or as right as possible - for them. This sounds like such a reasonable thing to do, but in practice, it is hardly ever done. Listening, therefore, turns out to be a radical act.”
Connect with us
Donate
Tax deductible gifts can be made via our fiscal sponsor, Social Good Fund, to help us launch and grow our programs and provide free restorative processes to survivors of sexual violence.