Ashley Judd Reveals She Had 'Restorative Justice Conversation' With One Of Her Rapists

Ashley Judd recently revealed that she found and met with one of the men who raped her in 1999. The actor has spoken up about being subjected to multiple sexual assaults and that she is a three-time rape survivor. During her recent appearance on David Kessler's podcast the actor said that she had a "restorative justice conversation" with one of her rapists

Ashley Judd is one of the first women to speak up about the sexual offences committed by producer and convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein and thus played an important role in shaping the MeToo movement. Harvey Weinstein was arrested and charged for rape in 2018 after which he was convicted of five offences and sentenced to 23 years in prison.

The 54-year-old actor has also opened up about enduring sexual violence since a young age. In her 2011 memoir All That Is Bitter & Sweet, Judd revealed that she had been raped at the age of 14.

Suggested Reading: Ashley Judd Says No To Harvey Weinstein's $44 Million Settlement

Ashley Judd Interview With David Kessler

In her recent interview with author and grief expert David Kessler Judd recalled the experience of sitting down face to face with one of the men who had sexually assaulted her and giving them a chance to present their side. "When a man raped me in 1999, it was crazy-making because I knew better, I was very clear, my boundaries were intact, I was already an empowered, adult feminist woman."

Restorative justice focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders via reconciliation with survivors and the community as well.

Judd said that after the assault she traced and found the man who "surfaced really easily" and she said, "to make a long story short, we ended up in rocking chairs sitting by a creek together." She further added, "And I said, ‘I’m very interested in hearing the story you’ve carried all these years.’ And we had a restorative justice conversation about that." She also mentioned that she didn't need anything from the rapist and all his "his amends and expressed his deep remorse" were "gravy", concluding that healing from grief was an inside job.

The actor also acknowledged her mother Naomi Judd's mental health illness as a disease at the time of her passing. "She was absolutely doing the best she could," Judd said. Naomi Judd died by suicide at the age of 76 on April 30, 2022.