Victims of any type of crime may experience a clash between their needs as a crime victim to tell their story about the crime and how it affected them, and their role in the traditional punitive penal system, where their active participation is often limited. This gap between victims’ needs and the reality of the traditional justice system may be even more exacerbated for victims of anti-LGBT hate crimes, as they are not a random crime victim, but have been attacked based on their LGBT identity. This means that they may have experienced similar crimes or discrimination in the past and may have accumulated trauma. The crime may also have had an impact of their everyday behaviour, in that it may have made them afraid to openly express their identity, go to certain places or use public transport. Furthermore, the harm in a hate crime is collective and extended to the wider group of LGBT persons, as the crime sends a message of fear to all LGBT persons in a certain area or country. Amongst groups vulnerable to becoming victims of hate crime there may also be mistrust in the authorities and the judicial system. This lack of trust goes beyond the relation between victims and the police, but may also involve justice- and victim support officials.
These specific circumstances of victims of anti-LGBT hate crimes make restorative approaches particularly useful, due to the victim-centred approach of these practices. Restorative justice – as opposed to traditional trials – involves the victim as an active party, free to tell their story from their perspective. Restorative processes give the victim an opportunity to participate in a flexible and tailormade activity responding to their specific needs: they may choose to participate (or not) in a practice, which may be either direct (meeting the offender) or indirect (not meeting the offender), and the timing of their participation is also based on the evaluation of their needs. This flexibility in timing relates particularly to the emotional needs of the victim: instead of making them relive the crime at a particular moment established by a court, restorative justice practices can be adapted to the best timing for the victim.
The restorative interview is one practice used in the Restorative Justice Programme of the Generalitat de Catalunya in Spain. This practice is tailor-made for victims who do not wish to meet the offending party, but who may need a supporting space to overcome the harm caused by the crime. The restorative interview is a space of active listening without judgment, as a response to the emotional situation of the victim, where they can discharge stress through the support of a restorative justice facilitator. Whilst this practice does not address the collective harm done, it can help the individual victim unload stress and other emotions and regain a sense of power, and might also contribute to improving the victim’s trust in the justice system by being able to talk calmly to a representative of the public authorities who is there to listen to them. The interview may also have the function of an exploration of a possible subsequent participation in a restorative justice process with more direct techniques, possibly meeting or being in contact with the offender at a later stage and thus being able to tell the offender about their experience and how the crime has affected them.