Restorative justice for sexual offences in violent and punitive societies: is it possible? is it feasible? The Chilean victims’ perspective

• In Event: Restorative Justice in Cases of Serious Crimes

Abstract

The use of restorative justice mechanisms for addressing sexual violence cases is, and has always been, a contentious idea. Whilst in the last few decades this has gained significant traction in some European and Anglo-Saxon countries, the case for Latin America is a different story.
Latin American is arguably the most violent and punitive region in the world. The public, the media and politicians hold ever-growing punitive expectations while trusting very little on criminal justice agencies (Rosenblatt & Bolivar, 2015). Moreover, Chile has been characterized as an authoritarian society, with a strong central state which emphasises law as the primary source of conflict resolution in criminal matters and gives little room to citizens's voice in the resolution of criminal interpersonal conflicts (Diaz & Navarro, 2020). Typically, both the official and unofficial reaction to the transgression of sexually violent offences is a highly punitive one, and the overreliance on the traditional criminal justice system reflects an automatised and irreflective punitive apriorism (Daly, 2013), constraining the system's capacity to change and to accept restorative practices for serious offences.
This exploratory research is designed to investigate the views of different groups and actors within the Chilean justice landscape on the potential use of restorative justice to address sexual violence cases. In this stage of the research, the perspective of victims of sexual violence that has experiences a criminal justice process is presented. Using semi-structured interviews and focus groups, it explores the cultural and legal challenges of using restorative meetings to address highly spurned offences, unravelling how the ‘external legal culture’ (Friedman, 1994) reflects on the victims’ perspectives about the system and its practices. It aims to explore how cultural settings embedded in a highly punitive society match or collide with victims’ perspective upon the matter.

Author

• Pablo Pineda, University of York