Setting the record straight and a call for radical change: A reply to Annie Cossins on 'restorative justice and child sex offences'

Abstract

This paper responds to Annie Cossins' article in the British Journal of Criminology 48(3), which draws on my research to argue that the case for using restorative justice in response to sexual assault is not well founded. She proposes instead that further legal reform should be pursued. I discuss the reasons for a paucity of evidence, present findings from my research, and correct and challenge several misrepresentations and assumptions in her article. I argue that the way forward should not be limited to legal reform, but should include restorative justice, and more broadly, alternative justice practices.