We are excited to share interviews with two extraordinary women on this International Women's Day: Dr Marie Keenan and Ailbhe Griffith. They both advocate for making restorative justice available and accessible for survivors of sexual harm. As this is an often debated area, it it is exciting to look at two people's experiences with such processes. Marie Keenan is an internationally recognised scholar working to advance research and policy in the field (besides her other area of focus: child sexual abuse and the Catholic church). Ailbhe Griffith survived a sexual assault when she was 21, and based on her restorative meeting with her offender, which took place years later, she advocates for restorative justice. They often collaborate, and among their many shared public appearances, one will be at our our upcoming international conference in Sassari (25-27 June, 2020). During the conference we will also screen the film based on Ailbhe Griffith's story and restorative encounter, titled The Meeting . In these interviews we were interested how they regard the #MeToo movement, which aimed to put women's abuse in the spotlight; and their views on restorative justice as a way to help survivors of sexual harm.
The European Forum for Restorative Justice considers gender based violence and sexual violence one of the most significant problems of our societies. For those who wish to learn more about addressing the issue, it is worth to attend our summer course on responses to sexual harm organised in the Criminal Justice Platform Europe partnership (Barcelona, 7-10 July 2020).
