Dr. Gwenda M. Willis, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of Auckland
Alissa captivated the audience, sharing her own stories – through both words and her own personal artwork – to offer a brave, balanced and thought provoking perspective on responding to and preventing sexual abuse. Many conference attendees described Alissa’s talk as the highlight of the conference. Thank you for being you, Alissa!
Restorative Justice participant/ person who committed rape
I looked Alissa up online and was scared, intimidated, and anxious. I didn’t know what restorative justice meant… When I looked Alissa’s site, I saw this person that empowers women and thought she might try to strike me down. I was scared. The survivor reached out to Alissa and asked that I talk with her. It only took about 30 seconds for me to trust Alissa. She is an incredible person who I’ve said lives on a higher level of consciousness. During the initial discussion, I immediately felt comfortable to share my past transgressions. She talked about the process that the survivor and I would go through and prepared me for the initial meeting.