INTERVIEW:- The release of Jeanne Heri’s film, I will never forget your faces, emphasizes “restorative” justice, which consists of creating a space for dialogue between perpetrators and victims of similar attacks. Its purpose? To help you better understand yourself and heal yourself.
“I was drawn to restorative justice because it allows imaginations to run wild. There are perpetrators and victims. Then comes subjectivity,” director Zhanna Heri analyzes. In I will always see your faces his new film starring Leila Bekhti, Miu-Miu, Adele Exarchopoulos and Dali Bensala, Released in theaters on March 29, the filmmaker takes viewers into the heart of this parallel system that became law in 2014. Voluntary restorative justice, also known as “restorative” justice, is a tool that allows perpetrators and victims. similar acts, dialogue during several months of closed sessions. Sitting around a round table and using a “talking stick”, everyone opens up, tells their story, expresses their anger and regret, tries to answer questions and questions on their own.
“Restorative justice empowers criminals by confronting them with the suffering of their victims,” the filmmaker continues. And understanding is necessary in order not to hurt again.” It should be noted that the rate of recidivism in France has increased since 2017, from 7.8% to 11.5% in 2020*.
In the video: the trailer I will always see your facesWith Adele Exarchopoulos and Dali Benssala
“Participating aggressors are not given financial compensation or forgiveness of punishment. Everyone is there because they want to be,” says Jeanne Herry. As the sessions progress, the word is thus born for some and found by others. Everyone takes their place and role. “An active role,” emphasizes the director. Authors stop hiding behind their lawyers, victims rediscover their fears.
In order to be as faithful as possible to the progress of this process, Jeanne Herry collected many testimonies from people who participated in it. One of them was 46-year-old Emanuel, who was very satisfied with the feature film. A victim of domestic violence, her life changed on the night of February 10, 2020, when her husband attacked her with a knife. A paraplegic of the right hand, two years dedicated to rehabilitation and as many psychological controls, he is one of those who started. And “came out cured.” Interview:
Understand their fears
Miss Figaro. – How did you discover restorative justice?
Emanuel: Many questions remained unanswered after the trial of my ex-husband, who was sentenced to a one-year suspended sentence, who served only 4 months. At that time, in 2020, I contacted the Association for the Assistance of Victims of Driving Crimes (AAVIV), who put me in touch with psychologists in particular. In 2022, they were the ones who directed me to restorative justice, perhaps because they saw their limits in my reconstruction. I was reluctant at first, but I saw that I could not go forward, certain questions were swirling in my head.
What exactly did you expect?
I really don’t know. Before starting, I first had 3 or 4 one-on-one meetings with our mediators. It helps to understand how interviews go, but I didn’t know what I was getting into. I just wanted to understand my fears, and what better way to do that than to get inside the abuser’s head? I had to know “why”. “Why you? Why did you do this to me? What was my ex-boyfriend thinking when he stabbed me? Will he ever come back to kill me? Finish the job? Is he going to take it out on my family?.. A lot of stuff like that.
It is difficult to explain to your loved ones that you are going to visit the prisoners. Did those around you understand this approach?
My mother was very afraid that it would bring out extremely cruel things. I saw many specialists for PTSD, he was worried that I would get worse. So we had a ritual. after every session i had to go to his house. Little by little he saw me change. Each time I told her how great it was that I looked forward to next Tuesday. He was forced to face the facts.
Listen to the other
How did you approach the first session?
I was very afraid. The sessions took place in Draguinyan prison, it is difficult to enter the prison. But at the same time, I also knew that it was an opportunity not given to all victims; being heard. Today I will never forget the date November 8, 2022. It was the beginning of a true human adventure. You know, sitting face-to-face for three hours, it leaves room for great discussions, important discoveries. I’ve said things in this room that I’ve never said before, and vice versa. In a strange way, I felt completely confident. There was no longer us and them, victims and aggressors. There was a group.
Do you feel you understand them?
Restorative justice serves to listen to the other person, going beyond their subjectivity. I understood their obligations, their motives for violence. We all have our own beliefs and personal wounds. These perpetrators were children who experienced violence before reproducing it. They were these young people thrown from home to home for some, with no money and no emotional support for others. And they didn’t get help, when they should have received psychological support.
These attackers performed actions similar to what you experienced, but did not actually harm you. Wasn’t it difficult to establish a relationship with your ex-husband?
No, because the stories are different, but the psychological patterns are often similar. We find common points: drugs, alcohol, lack of money, emotional lack, jealousy. And through them, I better understood the violence of my ex-partner, who had their childhood.
Restorative justice is used to listen to the other person, to get out of one’s own subjectivity
How much have their sentiments evolved compared to the first appointments?
At first, the thing in their heads worked at this moment: they slapped, punched, of course, but this violence did not deserve to be closed. The challenge was to make them understand that there is an “after” for the victims of aggression. Let the nightmare continue: medical care, psychological surveillance, insomnia, consequences that permeate all our relationships… We are really watering. We are not victims one day. Every morning my scar is a reminder of my attack.
In exchange for suffering
a “the talking stick” passes hand to hand during the sessions. Is this item necessary to keep cool in the face of stories?
It’s a priority. Without this wood, and this is shown by Jeanne Heri’s film, impulsiveness returns, and with it, aggressiveness. The talking stick allowed us to control our emotions, we had to listen to each other until the end. Once the impulsivity is gone, restrained, we retreat inwardly. And then, you have to see how the group sometimes leaves. sessions upset us, it all goes away.
I stopped locking myself in my room in fear of being kidnapped, I can finally hold a knife without shaking.
Were there any comments that sometimes seemed inaudible to you? Insurmountable?
There were very unpleasant moments when I had to listen to how such an author beat his wife. But in order to participate in restorative justice, one must understand that these people have already been judged. They are already in prison and they are there of their own free will. It’s a moment to share. They bring us answers, and we recognize them because they face our suffering.
I remember a prisoner locked up due to domestic violence, who held back a lot in the first sessions, he really didn’t understand why he was in prison. There was a lot of anger, and that anger fueled our own. Little by little, listening to us, it is one who fully revealed himself. And then, one day, he apologized. It was a wonderful thing. He himself, the most difficult, regretted, spoke on behalf of our attackers, that we never had an excuse from anyone.
In the video, what are the real numbers of violence against women?
General elasticity
Restorative justice is also called “restorative” justice. Do you have a feeling today that you were? “fixed» ?
These sessions transformed me. It cured me completely. I restored my self-confidence, found myself. I was wiped out for two years, I couldn’t work anymore because my hand was paralyzed, I wanted to hide in a mouse hole and never come out again. I was angry at myself, at others, afraid to be outside, to be alone, to run into my attacker again. Today I stopped locking myself in every room in the house and I can finally pick up a knife without shaking. I recovered my strength. I’m not angry anymore, I’m calm.
Did you develop relationships with the abusers you met after the sessions ended?
No, and that’s what also makes it possible to turn the page and move on. However, a month after the last session, we saw each other again for a meeting called “La Finale”. There were many emotions from everyone that day, we knew that we would never see each other again, that life would resume its course for the better. It was January 31, 2023. I had baked cakes and we exchanged small gifts. I offered each of the prisoners a book by Jacques Salome, Tales to heal, tales to grow. They gave me pictures and poems. It was a very exciting moment.
Do you feel close to them today?
Within a few sessions, these people almost know me better than some of the people around me. One of the authors gave me a picture showing my hand over my heart with text written on the back. That’s what I am for him. I treasure it at home. Even if I will certainly never see these authors again, I will never forget their faces, as Jeanne Heri’s film says so well. And they will never forget mine.
(1) According to the published report Statista Research Unit .
Source: Le Figaro
