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Author	Prof Sonia Pandey
Organisation/Institution	Lloyd Law College, Greater Noida
Country	INDIA
Panel	Criminal Law
Title	From Harm to Healing : Understanding Justice For Acid Attack survivors Through Restorative Justice Strategies in South Asian Nations.
Abstract	Conventional Criminal Justice system of South Asian Nations and particularly India has been more often than not questioned for its inclusivity. An equal opportunity to all the stake holders to have effective participatory rights in the justice delivery mechanism has always been an area of inquiry. Ironically in majority of cases the victims of crime, become the forgotten soul with no or very little opportunity to have a direct and effective say in the system. This has been witnessed in all kinds of crime, more so when the victims are the victims of heinous crimes like acid attacks. At one end when they are already dealing with the shock and trauma of such grave and hatred attack on them, and managing their treatment and medicines, the complex justice delivery mechanism further deteriorates their condition and provide no healing from the pain they suffer. Rather it aggravates their pain. The present research paper explores the possibility of employing restorative justice strategies as a complementary framework to conventional criminal justice system ,where the justice is victim-centered and therapeutic. As the Researchers understand that the purpose of law is not just to release or convict an accused but to also ensure the healing of the victim. Law in it’s nature and function has to be therapeutic. To conduct this research, a qualitative research methodology was adopted. The primary tool of data collection has been in-depth semi-structured interviews of the acid attack survivors as well as questionnaires circulated to other stakeholders along with medical practioners and psychologist. A purposive- convenience sampling method was employed based on the experience of victims related to the crime, availability and willingness of the participants to respond.
Biography	I am Sonia Pandey, I am a research scholar of faculty of law , University of Delhi. I also have more than five years of teaching experience. Currently I am a full time faculty at Lloyd Law College, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. My research areas are criminology, victimology , tort law and family law.