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4 Int'l J. Restorative Just. 365 (2021)
Is Now the Time for Restorative Justice for Survivors of Sexual Assault?

handle is hein.journals/ijrestore4 and id is 369 raw text is: EDITORIAL Is now the time for restorative justice for survivors of sexual assault? Meredith Rossner and Miranda Forsyth' 1 Introduction: enough is enough It is almost a clich6 to begin an article on sexual violence by noting the dreadful statistics about its global prevalence and frequency, the huge proportion of survivors that do not access the formal justice system, and the well-known justice gap resulting from failures of criminal justice systems in relation to such cases (Cossins, 2020; Lonsway & Archambault, 2012; Temkin & Krah6, 2008). And yet here we are. As each year passes, and the data and research pile up, it becomes ever more clear that the criminal justice system and social and cultural institutions, more broadly, are failing survivors every single day. Significant effort has been invested into reform. This has included prevention campaigns aimed at educating children, young people, and the broader community about consent; enhanced training and resources for services that support survivors; the introduction of special measures to support survivors at trial; training within the police to be more sensitive and respectful when offences are reported; and ongoing legislative debates around the world about reforming the laws around consent. And yet in our home country of Australia, 87 per cent of survivors do not contact the police following their assault (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2017). Of those that do, 27 per cent wait for at least a year before reporting (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021). This proportion is higher when the perpetrator is a stranger, compared with someone they know. It is noteworthy that, of the assaults that are reported to the police, 33 per cent are family/domestic violence related. This reminds us that survivors may have complex reasons for not reporting their assaults. Similar figures exist worldwide.' The Australian public was shocked and outraged to learn this year of an alleged rape that had taken place inside parliament house, our seat of democracy. Yet after one brave woman spoke out about the incident and the way her claims had been dealt with by authorities, more and more stories tumbled out about the * Meredith Rossner is Professor of Criminology, Centre for Social Research and Methods, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. Miranda Forsyth is Associate Professor in the School of Regulation and Global Governance, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. Contact author: Meredith.rossner@anu.edu.au 1 See https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2014/violence-against-women-eu-wide-survey-main- results-report. The International Journal of Restorative Justice 2021 vol. 4(3) pp. 365-373 365 doi: 10.5553/TIJRJ.000094

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