Paper short abstract:

Anti-LGBT hate crimes and procedural penal justice may leave victims dissatisfied and with further victimisation experiences. Restorative justice offers and alternative or complementary justice practice and understanding, despite some reservations and requirements from professionals’ perspectives.

Paper long abstract:

Hate crimes and discrimination targeted at LGBT individuals (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) entail both direct attacks and group-oriented harm, as they act as prejudice-based messages against a whole group or community. Regarding only the direct victims of these attacks and discriminations, anti-LGBT hate crime are likely to produce emotional duress, feelings of self-isolation and doubts, stress, anxiety, and other health-related negative effects. How these crimes and these victims’ needs are understood and dealt with in procedural or traditional penal justice systems typically involve limited victim agency and satisfaction, as penal procedures tend to involve secondary victimisation and reduced satisfaction with the results. Against this context, restorative justice may offer an alternative or complementary form of justice that may productively respond to the victims’ needs, particularly their agency and participation and their need to be heard and respected. Drawing from a multi-sited research project in six European Member States, this paper analyses how professionals involved in victim support and anti-LGBT hate crimes’ victims respond to the possibilities and requirements of restorative justice. How justice itself is understood, how cooperation among professionals is planned and conducted, and how victims are involved as parties are all key factors regarding the role of restoration within justice systems and practices. The paper focuses on the clash between different understandings and expectations of justice, namely between restoration and punitivism, but also between distinct roles and responsibilities for victims and other parties involved.