Lived experience as a key to restoration

Nothing about us without us. These words capture why the voice of survivors must not be absent in the justice system. Precisely there, where people serve their sentence, the need for recovery is great. Yet, our prison system is currently focused mainly on punishment and survival, far less on recovery and responsibility. As a result, one crucial voice remains unheard: that of the survivors. Their perspective can contribute to building a society that is safer and more just. Centering their perspective is not only about recognition, it is about transforming a system built on retribution into one that truly embraces accountability and healing. 

Justice and recovery is also for survivors

Survivors want more than reparation and recognition of their pain. They long for a society where harm is not repeated, where harm is acknowledged, responsibility is taken, steps are taken to ensure it doesn’t happen again, and where their voices are not only heard but truly valued, not only in the individual case, but also in the broader debate. Too often, survivors are framed only as vulnerable. Yet many are people with knowledge, strength and vision for justice reform.

This became clear during a meeting between survivors and incarcerated people in PI Vught (a Dutch maximum-security prison) on April 7, 2025. Survivors shared about their healing process and how it is only possible when they see that someone who caused harm understands its impact. It is about being seen, heard, spoken to and knowing that the incarcerated individual no longer causes harm. Taking accountability. 

Inside prison, however, there is often little space to reflect on one’s own behaviour, the underlying patterns behind it, or its consequences for others. Prison life is largely about surviving in a harsh culture. Yet strikingly, incarcerated individuals in this dialogue expressed a deep desire for restorative justice and a willingness to take responsibility and repair. 

One participant described the restorative co-creation session as stirring more within him than years of therapy. Together, survivors and incarcerated people said they could finally see each other as human beings, gain insight into one another’s experiences and break down stigmas. Dialogue opened the door to mutual understanding. 

This shows that survivors and incarcerated people are not simply on opposite sides, but deeply interconnected within the same system(s). If we truly want to build a safe and just society, we must break through the victim–offender frame, create space for dialogue and work together to transform the system itself.

Lived Experience as a Driver for Change

Projects such as Herstelcirkels (Restorative Circles), where survivors and others meet in a safe setting, demonstrate that lived experience has impact only when applied structurally, in an organized, lasting and equal way. Not as a one-off guest lecture, but as a permanent part of policy and practice. Not just consultation, but meaningful collaboration, co-creation and co-decision-making.

Herstelcirkels was set up as a co-creation by survivors of sexual violence, their loved ones and professionals. By placing lived experience at the center, services have been developed that better meet the needs of those affected by offence and their networks.

Professor Nicole Immler (Historical Memory and Transformative Justice) calls this transformative recognition: recognition that goes beyond simply listening. It means seeing people affected by harm as individuals with potential, with vision, with agency. As she puts it:

“It is not ‘we bake the cake and you come to eat.’

It is ‘you are making the cake together and you eat it together.’”

This is the transformation from being defined by harm to becoming an actor: from trauma to emancipation. Turning anger into action is not only healing, but also a source of social renewal.

Why survivor expertise matters in justice reform?

During the sentence is precisely the moment when people who have caused harm can be confronted with its consequences. That is where opportunities for restorative justice lie, such as:

• Dialogue and mediation, facilitated in a safe setting
• Discussion groups with survivors and incarcerated individuals, offering insight into both the impact of crime and its root causes (for example through SamenSpraak or in groups with only survivors or incarcerated individuals) 
• Creating restorative toolkit and creative methods that make visible what harm means and how repair is possible
• Innovation in restorative justice through collaboration between survivors and incarcerated individuals: creating restorative pathways that support healing and prevent future victimization, both during and after detention. 
• Structural involvement of survivors in detention policy and practice

For this to be possible, they environment must be safe. Not one based on fear and survival and inflicts unnecessary harm, but one that actively supports responsibility and recovery. Detention must be personal, humane and emotionally safe. Approaches such as small-scale detention (RESCALED) show how a more community-oriented, humane environment can create the necessary conditions for both survivors and incarcerated individuals to engage in dialogue and restoration. Only then can people take responsibility and engage in dialogue without being retraumatized by the system itself. 

This is essential not only for incarcerated individuals, but equally for survivors because safety itself takes on a new meaning: true safety is not achieved through exclusion alone, through walls and fences, but by preventing harm from being repeated and preventing new victims through restoration. 

When survivors are consistently given a voice in shaping detention and engaged as co-creators, safety gains this deeper dimension. Survivors and incarcerated individuals are both part of the same system. Everyone involved in justice must therefore have a voice not only in how sentences are carried out, but also in how justice itself is shaped. And who better to guide that change than a survivor? 

The Next Step

The use of lived experience in detention requires courage. Courage to see detention not only as a moment of punishment but also as a place of restoration. Courage to no longer exclude survivors, but to recognize them as co-architects of change. Survivors know better than anyone what is needed for a safer society. That has become their highest priority after the harm they endured. And they have something to offer: their knowledge, their experiences, their vision. Only together, survivors, incarcerated individuals, and professionals, can we break the cycle of violence.

Call to Action

Let the voice of survivors always be heard in justice. Not afterwards, not occasionally, but as the starting point for a more just and safer society.

• Create safe spaces for dialogue and responsibility
• Give survivors a voice in detention policy and practice
• Build justice together. Beyond punishment, toward recovery and restoration. 

Only then will we build not prisons of stone, but bridges toward a society without new victimization.
Are we ready to take the step together to truly give survivors a voice in justice reform?

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