"I also recognized through this process that I was no longer a victim because my life was not contingent on what this man did."

"I’m refusing to fall in line with what 'they' want, which is visceral hatred between two sides; this gives me permission to reconcile."

"The letter he wrote back was full of compassion, and I think at that moment I lost whatever hard armour I had wrapped around me."

"People think once a criminal always a criminal, but if victims choose to forgive their attackers, I believe the community should too."

"My past violent actions were very destructive, but now I’m fighting for peace in a far more constructive manner."

"The act of friendship invites forgiveness."

"I don’t forgive and I don’t forget, but when this happened to my daughter I had to ask myself whether I’d contributed in any way."

"Out of rage came compassion, and the realisation that this was not my mother's fault, nor the fault of the women who had done this to me. They were simply blinded by tradition."