Trying to implement “Restorative Justice” for perpetrators of sexual crimes is problematic. Here’s why.
In April of 2014, a research article titled Restorative Justice Approaches to Enhance Compliance With Title IX Guidance was published. This article covers some excellent points critiquing current survivor support, and the lack of clarity in collegiate policies to address all forms of sexual misconduct, including stalking, emotional or psychological abuse, non-penetrative sexual assaults, and the like.
Through the Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) issued by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), many of these points are addressed. While addressing new and beneficial ways that institutes of higher education can support survivors of sexual crimes, this article also addresses ways to implement a helpful system for perpetrators. Some of the propositions such as Sentencing Circles, Circles of Support and Accountability, Conferencing and RESTORE Programming all seem reasonable and helpful.
That is, in the rare instances that perpetrators for such crimes are actually held accountable for their actions. Statistically, that is only the case .02% of the time. Present collegiate and federal policies inadequately hold perpetrators accountable and fail to prioritize the needs and circumstances of survivors.
Perhaps when our system is refined to stop perpetuating rape culture, and more frequently holds perpetrators accountable at all, the proposition for Restorative Justice Approaches would make sense. The system should not first be refined in favor of perpetrators. The system should take priority in refining and ensure that survivors are being taken care of and believed first. Once this is done, and the needs of survivors are adequately focused on, the approaches to disciplining perpetrators can be refined. At the moment, very few perpetrators are being held accountable in the first place, so…
How could we implement a system that tries to assist perpetrators of such crimes when they are not even being punished in the first place?
Let’s look at some statistics and specific instances that further emphasize this.
For starters, 1 in 5 female students is sexually assaulted before they graduate college but only 1 in 8 student survivors will report it.
Only 2-10% of sexual crime reports are false, meaning, 90-98% of reports are valid. This does not line up with the fact that for every 100 rapes committed, approximately 2 rapists will ever serve a day in prison.
With only .02% of perpetrators actually being held accountable in any way, it is unreasonable to try and implement a system of Restorative Justice at the present time.
Furthermore, when there are instances that the perpetrator has been taken to court, punishments are mild anyways. Let’s use the case of People of the State of California v. Brock Allen Turner as an example.
Turner was indicted on five charges: two for rape, two for felony sexual assault, and one for attempted rape.
The convictions carried a potential sentence of 14 years in prison.
Turner was sentenced to six months confinement in the Santa Clara County jail to be followed by three years of probation.
He would be three months shy of a six-month sentence. Turner was released 3 months early based on “good behavior”
Turner is presently appealing his sexual assault conviction.
How can we justify implementing a system of “Restorative Justice” when perpetrators are receiving such mild punishments for their crimes in the first place?
Federal Legislation and Policy, as well as University Legislation and Policy, only perpetuate a system that protects and defends perpetrators, as seen by the instances above. These terrible wrongs in the system need alterations before concern for adding further benefits to a system that already largely favors the wrongdoers is implemented.
Citations:
(2014, December 4). People v. Turner. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_v._Turner
Oritz, Erik. (2016, September 1). Brock Turner, Convicted of Sexual Assault, Set for Early Release — What’s Next in Case? Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/brock-turner-convicted-sexual-assault-set-early-release-what-s-n640366
Koss, M. Wilgus, J. Williamsen, K. (April, 2014). Restorative Justice Approaches to Enhance Compliance With Title IX Guidance. Sage, Volume 15 (Issue 3, pages 242-257). Retrieved from http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1524838014521500