Designing Justice: Essential Elements of Survivor Justice Laws

Our latest report, Designing Justice: Essential Elements of Survivor Justice Laws, builds on our work fighting to decriminalize survivors of abuse. For decades, survivors of abusive relationships—disproportionately girls and women—have been unjustly punished by courts that do not consider the circumstances of their actions. Our new report examines four state laws that allow courts to shorten the sentences of survivors whose actions were connected to abuse. It analyzes the laws’ core elements, strengths, and weaknesses and offers concrete policy recommendations to guide future efforts to draft strong survivor justice laws.

The timing of this report is critical as momentum grows and more states are considering similar legislation. New Jersey’s survivor justice law was passed in 2026, with bills pending in a number of other states. We hope this report can help strengthen these efforts.

KEY ELEMENTS

Our report examines the core components and scope of survivor justice laws in Illinois, Georgia, New York, and Oklahoma. These laws, which recognize the context and power dynamics of abusive relationships, are an important step toward achieving greater equity and gender justice for survivors. Key elements include:

• Available Relief
• Elements, Eligibility, and Evidentiary Requirements
• Resentencing Relief
  

RECOMMENDATIONS

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

Drawing on existing laws and insights from extensive interviews conducted with survivors, attorneys, and advocates, we provide recommendations to help ensure that future laws minimize eligibility barriers, omit blanket exclusions, protect young survivors, and enable strong implementation through training, data collection, accountability, and transparency.

LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK

We hope this report is a helpful resource for those who are working to advance survivor justice. If you find it useful, please use the short form below to tell us how you may use the report—and what additional resources would help support your work.