New Report Offers Roadmap for Strong Survivor Justice Laws

The Center on Gender Justice & Opportunity at Georgetown Law releases new report on survivor justice laws and policy reforms to provide strong, fair, and meaningful relief

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, the Center on Gender Justice & Opportunity at Georgetown Law released Designing Justice: Essential Elements of Survivor Justice Laws, part of its work fighting to decriminalize survivors of abuse. The report analyzes survivor justice laws in four states—Georgia, Illinois, New York, and Oklahoma–that allow shorter sentences for survivors whose actions were related to abuse. In addition to identifying the laws’ core elements, strengths, and weaknesses, Designing Justice offers a roadmap for advocates and policymakers, providing concrete recommendations for future legislation.

“The timing of this report is critical as more states consider survivor justice legislation,” said Kaitlyn Powell, Staff Attorney at the Center on Gender Justice & Opportunity and co-author of the report. “There is growing momentum behind these reforms, as evidenced by laws passed just this year. We hope this report helps advocates and lawmakers build on that momentum by designing laws that provide meaningful relief, avoid unnecessary barriers, and reflect the realities of survivors’ lives.”

“For too long, survivors have been punished without meaningful consideration of the abuse, coercion, and trauma that shaped their actions,” said Rebecca Epstein, Executive Director of the Center on Gender Justice & Opportunity at Georgetown Law and co-author of the report. “These laws are an essential part of achieving greater equity and gender justice for survivors.”

The report finds that the design of survivor justice laws matters. Provisions governing eligibility, available relief, and evidentiary requirements can determine whether laws provide meaningful opportunities to survivors to seek shorter sentences.

“Survivor justice laws are strongest when they are informed by the experiences of the people closest to the issue, ” said Jelani Hayes, co-author of the report. “Throughout this work, we heard from survivors, attorneys, and advocates whose insights made clear that the details of these laws matter. If states want these reforms to work in practice, listening to survivors has to be central to the process.” 

Research underscores the urgency of reform. A 2020 national survey found that at least 30 percent of incarcerated girls and women convicted of murder or manslaughter reported that their actions were related to protecting themselves or a loved one from physical or sexual violence. A 2024 study of California prisons found that more than 66 percent of women incarcerated for murder or manslaughter were in extreme danger of being killed by their partner in the year before the offense.

Designing Justice emphasizes that survivor justice laws are not a substitute for broader reforms that prevent survivors from being criminalized in the first place. But ensuring that courts consider the full context of abuse when sentencing survivors is an important first step.