Inaugural Chicago Learning Community on Restorative Justice for Sexual Harm

All summer long, the inaugural Chicago Learning Community on Restorative Justice for Sexual Harm has been meeting at the Shared Roots Collective space every Tuesday night to dive deep into what a restorative justice program addressing sexual harm can look like in practice and to train in becoming facilitators for these types of community-held cases. 

We are a group of 15 individuals – each with our own lived experiences and unique connections to the work of restorative justice, sexual violence prevention, and survivor advocacy work. Collectively, we each agreed to the following statements prior to forming a learning community:

• We believe survivors have the right to name their own needs and seek healing and accountability outside of the legal system.
• We believe someone who has caused sexual harm has the capacity to do deep reflection on root causes, explore accountability, and make genuine amends. 
• We believe we can offer equitable support to and equally acknowledge the dignity of the survivor, the person who caused harm, and others present throughout a restorative justice process. 
• We are oriented towards liberation frameworks and share a commitment to racial, queer, and disability justice and apply this within our work. 
• We are interested in being facilitators for restorative justice processes responding to sexual harm within the Shared Roots Collective community-held, survivor-initiated, free-of-cost program.

Our time together began with building relationships – creating shared values and community guidelines and understanding what brings each of us to this work. We then collectively deepened our foundation in restorative justice as a paradigm shift and the impacts of sexual harm on survivors and on our broader community. 

As one participant shared, “What stood out to me most was the intentionality behind creating a space for reflection, connection, and collective learning. It reminded me that meaningful change begins when we create spaces where people can show up authentically, learn from one another, and grow together.”

Once we had a shared orientation, we actively explored restorative justice facilitation for cases of sexual harm- improving our skills in accompaniment for healing and accountability journeys. We covered preparation work with all participants and what trauma-informed, transformative conferences could look like. 

Another learning community member expressed, “I learned more than I thought possible- both as a facilitator and an advocate. This opportunity filled an emotional need in my healing journey and empowered me to share accountability and healing experiences with others. In many ways, this program bridges gaps in survivor needs across the city. I am so grateful for the grace and acceptance from everyone who engaged in this learning community, and for the depth of knowledge shared.”

Deja Mackey, my co-steward of this learning community, reflected, “The desire to build new worlds rooted in community care in order to address hard feels more apparent each day. Each week, as the learning community came together, it became clear that what we were building served as a healing balm for all of the cracks where systems have failed survivors, caused further harm, and left communities without meaningful pathways toward true accountability and healing.”

We ended the summer in celebration of what we have created so far and with an abundant view of what is to come. Continue following our journey as we prepare to officially launch our restorative justice for sexual harm program in January 2027! We believe the time has come for Chicago to be a city where survivors of sexual harm have access to options that center their needs as they seek healing and justice.