Finding Heart through Restorative Justice with Marlee Liss

On this week’s episode, we have an incredibly inspiring story for you today!  Alexandra speaks with Marlee Liss, a sensual reclamation coach, speaker, author and restorative justice advocate.  She is a queer, sparkle-loving feminist and trailblazer.  Marlee made history in the justice system when her sexual assault case became the 1st in North America to conclude with restorative justice.  Since then, she has coached hundreds of women internationally in reclaiming sensuality and embodied leadership.

Marlee has shared her voice via Forbes, Huff Post, Buzzfeed, Mel Robbins Show, and more. In addition, she is a powerful speaker and has presented/consulted for the US Military Sexual Assault Response Team, on an elite panel for the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence, Fordham School of Law and more.  Currently, her story is being made into a documentary and scripted Hollywood series, as she works on her memoir. 

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• What restorative justice is, its origins in the Indigenous, Jewish, and Mennonite cultures, and how it differs from the punitive justice system.
• Marlee’s story of sexual assault and going through the process after the assault of navigating the punitive justice system while doing very deep healing work.
• How going through the punitive justice system and the process of the lead up to a criminal trial inspired Marlee to seek out restorative justice measures instead.
• How the experience of the restorative justice therapy process brought a human element and a heart element to a justice system that otherwise can be very dehumanizing and devoid of any presence of either.
• The power of story-telling and how telling our stories provides a sense of validation to not only ourselves, but our communities as well.
• Ideas on what the vision of embodied leadership looks like and how it avoids burnout, honors our feelings, takes anger and recognizes it as passion and births creation from it, all while making huge, impactful changes in our communities.
• And more!

Please note, that we do go into the story of Marlee’s case and sexual trauma and what happened, so it’s a tender one.  Many of us have gone through these experiences, and it can bring stuff up, and it’s also really healing, so we encourage you to listen even if it feels a little edgy.  Please make sure you have some support around you and take good care.