title: Incorporating feminist theory and insights into a restorative justice response to sex offenses.
abstract: Sex offenses, particularly nonpenetration sex offenses and acquaintance sexual assault, are all too common. Because these crimes reinforce women's fear of crime and restrict spatial and social freedom, it is paramount for the justice system to act affirmatively; however, it does not. This article identifies several failures in the current response to these sex offenses. We describe the research demonstration project, RESTORE, operating in Pima County, Arizona, which uses a restorative justice response as a way of remedying some of those failures. Identifying central feminist insights that guided the development of that project, the article addresses concerns raised by feminists about the use of restorative justice for gendered violence. We conclude that most if not all of these concerns apply to cases of on going domestic violence--cases specifically excluded from the RESTORE program--rather than to cases of acquaintance sexual assault or nonpenetration sex offenses.
authors.affiliation: Washington and Lee University School of Law, USA.
authors.forename: C Quince
authors.initials: CQ
authors.lastname: Hopkins
authors.forename: Mary P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Koss
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001130:Arizona; D018585:Battered Women / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D019058:Community Networks / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003416:Criminal Law / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003417:Criminal Psychology / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D017579:Domestic Violence / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D005260:Female; D019513:Feminism; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D012935:Social Justice; D012941:Social Responsibility; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence