RESTORATIVE JUSTICE FOR SURVIVORS OF TRAFFICKING

Restorative Justice (RJ)  is a healing-centered model that prioritizes accountability, repair, and survivor agency over punishment. For survivors of human trafficking, RJ can offer space for truth-telling, validation, and in some cases, dialogue that supports closure or empowerment.

Because every survivor’s needs are different, RJ must be flexible, trauma-informed, and culturally grounded to be meaningful and safe.

Centering Healing and Accountability

For many survivors of human trafficking, justice cannot be found in systems that have historically ignored, retraumatized, or criminalized them. Instead, RJ provides an opportunity for survivors to reclaim their voices, define what justice means to them, and help shape a process rooted in dignity and transformation. It is not just about addressing individual harm, it is about confronting and changing the broader systems and conditions that allowed exploitation to occur in the first place.

Restorative Justice offers survivors real choices that honor their autonomy and reflect the full complexity of their healing journey. It also invites communities to take collective responsibility for repair, making space for shared healing, growth, and accountability.

Advocacy in Action

As part of our efforts to expand awareness and understanding of Restorative Justice for human trafficking survivors, SJI has organized meetings with local officials, including the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and the Los Angeles Police Department. These engagements were conducted in collaboration with lived- experience experts, ensuring that survivor voices are at the forefront of these critical conversations.

We intentionally prioritized survivor leadership in these meetings, recognizing that those directly impacted by trafficking possess invaluable insights into the shortcomings of the traditional criminal legal system. By facilitating direct dialogue between survivors and institutions that play a pivotal role in shaping responses to human trafficking, we aim to influence policy and practice, promoting alternatives that honor survivor agency and prioritize holistic support over punitive measures.

Restorative Justice Pilot Program 

SJI has developed a Restorative Justice Pilot Program and is requesting a $25 million investment, to be distributed over five years at $5 million per year.

This pilot would operate at the pre-filing stage, before any criminal charges are filed, offering survivors a real choice in how they want to pursue justice. Survivors could choose to continue through the traditional criminal legal system, or opt into a restorative process grounded in healing, dignity, and consent.

If the survivor chooses Restorative Justice, the case would be referred to a trusted community-based organization. That organization would:

• Provide wrap-around support for the survivor, including safety planning, legal advocacy, and healing services

• Facilitate a restorative process to hold the trafficker accountable

• Work with both survivor and community to co-define what meaningful accountability looks like

Importantly, nothing would proceed without the survivor’s full consent and active participation. For some, accountability might mean requiring the trafficker to engage in therapy, substance use treatment, or other rehabilitative supports. For others, it may mean simply being heard and acknowledged.

This pilot is a step toward building survivor-led alternatives to carceral systems—centered not on punishment, but on transformation, safety, and self-determination.

Support the Pilot Program 

Read our Budget Proposal

Your voice matters. Whether you're a survivor, advocate, policymaker, or ally, you can help bring this vision of justice to life.

We’ve created two tailored letters of support to ensure everyone’s perspective is heard and respected:

✍️ Service Providers and Allies: If you’re part of an organization, agency, or advocacy group, you can help amplify this work and push for systems-level change.

✍️ Survivors of Trafficking: If you're a survivor of trafficking or exploitation and believe in the power of restorative justice, your voice carries incredible power. Share your support for real, meaningful alternatives to the systems that have caused harm.