Re-imagining Procedural Justice in Policing Sexual Violence: Centring Survivors

Procedural justice is recognized as being of substantial value to policing and, increasingly, victim-survivors. However, little research has engaged with the meaning of procedural justice theory in sexual violence, and none have developed an understanding with and for survivors. We conducted consultations with 42 survivors via five diverse expert-by-experience panels in England. We propose the following new conceptualizations of the key principles of procedural justice: dignity and respect, equity and fairness, voice, safety and trustworthiness. These principles foreground a feminist, situated and intersectional approach, and emphasize the importance of recognition, equity and the unconditional humanity of survivors. This work offers a new understanding of procedural justice in the context of policing sexual violence, and in institutional responses to gender-based violence more broadly.