Restorative Justice has been coming more into the forefront of the conversation around alternatives to a punitive approach to crime and violence, but there seem to be a lot of different ideas and misconceptions around what restorative justice is, who it’s for, how it works, and whether forgiveness is a necessary part of the process. In this episode, we speak to sonya shah, who has decades of experience as a restorative justice facilitator in communities and prisons to support victims and meaningfully address harm. In this conversation, we get personal about why we’ve felt resistant to RJ in the past and we learn a great deal from sonya about VODs (Victim-Offender Dialogues), how RJ centers the needs of survivors, and where it fits into the wide array of solutions we need for safety, healing, and accountability.