Vanessa: Reclaiming Indigenous Ways of Addressing Harm

Meet Vanessa Smith:

I’m an AuDHD, mixed-heritage Māori woman and survivor who has had to carve out space in a world that often misunderstood me. I’m proud that I refused to disappear, that I kept going through harm, doubt, and rebuilding, and am still learning how to take up space on my own terms. Every part of me that I reclaim feels like a quiet, powerful victory.

I am a survivor and I stand for restorative and transformative justice because the systems that were supposed to protect me caused their own kind of harm. Being met with disbelief, minimization, and rigid processes made it clear that punishment alone doesn’t equal healing, and often leaves survivors carrying even more weight. As a Māori woman reconnecting with my whakapapa, I recognize that restorative and transformative justice are not new ideas, they are rooted in Indigenous ways of addressing harm through accountability, collective care, and the restoration of balance. Those approaches honour people as whole beings, not just cases to process, and they make space for truth, responsibility, and healing to coexist. I believe survivors deserve options that don’t force them into retraumatizing systems, but instead reflect these deeper, community-based values of dignity, repair, and real change.

About Survivors 4 Justice Reform:

S4JR is a global coalition of survivors of s.xual violence, domestic violence, human trafficking - alongside our allies - united to challenge the failures & limitations of punitive, carceral systems. We advocate for restorative and transformative justice & recognize that there’s no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to justice. Learn more & get involved with our coalition via survivors4justicereform.com/join