Restorative Justice: Isolation to Empowerment in the Campus Rape Adjudication Process
Authors
Kirven, Stephane J.
Issue Date
2018-03-23
Type
Other
Language
en_US
Keywords
Adjudication , Campus rape , Restorative justice
Alternative Title
Abstract
Violence against women is a serious problem on colleges and university campuses in the United States today. This review finds that the current system of adjudication of campus sexual assaults is hostile and irresponsive to the needs of the victims and fails to protect or include the community in redressing the harm. This article highlights the state of sexual assaults on colleges and university campuses today and reviews the campus adjudication system under the standards of Title IX. In light of these findings, this article introduces restorative justice as an alternative form of justice to reform the adjudicatory process in campus sexual assault cases while complying with the mandates of Title IX. Restorative justice refers to a non-traditional approach to crime and justice intended to repair the harm to victims, hold offenders accountable, and restore safety to victims, relationships and communities (Umbreit & Armour, 2010). To the extent that the present quasi-judicial system of adjudication of campus sexual assaults routinely fails victims and the community, the author argues that restorative justice can be an approach used to respond to sexual assault on campus.