Truth and Repair

Book excerpt: From one of America’s most influential psychiatrists, an “extraordinary” and “profound” (New York Times) manifesto for reimagining justice for survivors of sexual trauma The #MeToo movement brought worldwide attention to sexual violence, but while the media focused on the fates of a few notorious predators who were put on trial, we heard far less about the outcomes of those trials for the survivors of their abuse. The conventional retributive process fails to serve most survivors; it was never designed for them. Renowned trauma expert Judith L. Herman argues that the first step toward a better form of justice is simply to ask survivors what would make things as right as possible for them. In Truth and Repair, she commits the radical act of listening to survivors. Recounting their stories, she offers an alternative vision of justice as healing for survivors and their communities. Deeply researched and compassionately told, Truth and Repair envisions a new path to justice for all.