Marlee Liss: Restorative Justice - Compassion In The Grey

Today, I'm talking to Marlee Liss! She is a reclamation coach, speaker, author, and restorative justice advocate. She is a queer, Jewish, feminist sparkly queen, and I'm so glad I got the opportunity to connect with this trailblazer! She is sharing her story of not only being sexually assaulted, but how she sought out something that she didn't even know existed, which we now know is called "restorative justice".

If you want to know more about this incredible process, please listen to her story! Obviously, we talk about rape and sexual assault throughout the entire interview, so if that's something you don't want to listen to then please skip ahead!

She now has her own podcast, The Sensual Revolution, along with her book, Re-Humanize, so go check them out!

And don't forget the free Webinar, "Unstoppable Body Love", and find her on Facebook!

 

In this episode, we talk about:

+ What restorative justice is (and different options for it)

+ How non-consenting and traumatizing the culture and systems around rape set for victims is

+ The projection of society on victims who might have other desires beyond "press charges" or "nothing"

+ The logistics of her court proceedings and restorative justice

+ The vicious cycles for sexual assault victims and abusers; the difference between condoning something versus being compassionate and ending the cycle

+ How she knew what she wanted before she even knew there was a term for "restorative justice"

+ How difficult this was for a white cis-gendered woman to accomplish, and how much more difficult this process could be for marginalized groups

+ This is an option for justice, not something you have to do; if this doesn't align with your beliefs, that's okay

+ Restorative justice, while eye opening, is still a SHITTY option because it's in reaction to something traumatizing

+ How everything Marlee is doing is a "forever thing" and she is going to get pushback on these ideas forever

+ Normalize asking survivors what THEY want

+ How restorative justice is giving you closure on your terms outside of the patriarchy

+ There is no "right way" to deal with a trauma - be selfish in your trauma healing

+ How our bodies can still, so beautifully, demonstrate to us who we are even when we are in deep pain trauma

+ How to pave way for Merriment and our future without clinging to who were were before a trauma