Forgiveness is an essential step towards reconciliation.

Before reconciliation can take place, those who feel injured need to forgive those who they feel injured them.

BBC Radio 4 has recently run a series of podcasts entitled: Forgiveness: Stories from the Front Line

Journalist Marina Cantacuzino explores questions such as How do you survive and restore your life when something truly appalling is done to you? She hears five gripping stories dealing with subjects such as rape, female genital mutilation and the death of a relative in a terrorist bomb attack.

Listen to all five episodes here.