Alternative Forms of Justice for Human Trafficking Survivors: Considering Procedural, Restorative, and Transitional

Human trafficking survivors do not typically find the traditional criminal justice system’s punitive outcomes for traffickers to match their views of justice, favoring alternative approaches. Drawing from qualitative interviews with 80 survivors of sex and labor trafficking, this brief documents survivors’ experiences with and perceptions of alternative practices, including procedural, restorative, and transitional justice. Overall, respondents view restorative and transitional justice concepts as desirable and promising, suggesting that survivors could perceive greater justice if service providers and criminal justice incorporated these alternative forms of justice into their practices.