We are a collective of people advocating for the decriminalization of domestic violence survivors by bringing awareness specifically to Nikki Addimando’s case.
This article about Nikki is the most in-depth & accurate reporting done yet, & shows exactly how an innocent woman could be sentenced to a life in prison by our broken & manipulated criminal justice system.
Hey
@PokJournal
: Why was
#NikkiAddimando
’s trial front-page news for months — yet this abuser’s murder trial is currently being deliberated with zero articles written about trial?
Why don’t you consider a man killing a woman to be newsworthy?
#JusticeForMelanie
Clemency decisions are expected soon. Urge
@GovKathyHochul
to grant clemency for
#NikkiAddimando
TODAY. It's past time to reunite Nikki with her kids.
Sign the
#FreeNikki
petition:
🎥 from
@andsoistayed
filmmakers Natalie Pattillo and Daniel A. Nelson
Yes, exactly. It shouldn’t take **all of this** — including teams of unpaid women + years of trauma — for basic justice. This cannot be the best we can do.
So glad you’re free,
@mccarter_tracy
. Those who fought for you would do it 1,000 more times. We just shouldn’t have to.
I appreciate the love, but y’all need to realize it took all the money and resources from 9 lawyers from 4 law firms, a community defense team, a media campaign, my bravery, smarts, and gut instincts, and the support of thousands more to get one CLEARLY INNOCENT Black woman free.
Prison replicates violence & control of abusive relationships.
@CosbyMoni
of
@MUAVI
modified the Power & Control Wheel to connect the dots between partner abuse and the abuse the state enacts in prisons. Concept by Monica Cosby, art by Sarah Ross
#DenimDay
#FreeThemAll
1/4
[Thread]
@survivepunish
@survivepunishNY
@prisonculture
Today is Nikki’s birthday - her third birthday behind bars. She is 31 years old. We would give anything to have her home with her family, singing around a birthday cake and making a wish for her future.
👇This turned into a viral cry for justice. 400,000 people have engaged resulting in 11 million views and growing.
Follow
@StandWithNikki
to keep up with Nikki’s heart wrenching case.
Nikki Addimando had her rape, assaults & sexual torture monetized & uploaded to a Pornhub channel. She killed her abuser & got unjustly sentenced to life in prison. Pornhub cashed in on her torture with no consequence.
FREE NIKKI & JAIL PORNHUB’S EXECUTIVES
#Traffickinghub
We understand why Chris’ family, friends, and the families of young gymnasts need to believe he didn’t abuse Nikki. But for prosecutor Chana Krauss to say she doesn’t think Chris ever abused Nikki, she had to ignore all of the evidence she worked to suppress.
Thank you
@vulture
for the shoutout! "Believe Her is crucial listening for anyone interested in the justice system and how society fails survivors of sexual violence." Have you listened?
#BelieveHer
I just watched Nicole’s 20/20 episode and part of the reason the jury didn’t believe her and chose to convict is that they felt she had TOO MUCH EVIDENCE OF ABUSE. Repeat that to yourself.
Nikki’s case and our clemency campaign to
@GovKathyHochul
was featured on GMA this morning! Go to to contact the governor and make your voice heard!
#FreeNikki
Nikki Addimando, found guilty of killing her partner who she said abused her for years, seeks release from prison and has the support of a legal team hoping to bring systemic change for criminalized survivors of domestic violence.
@JujuChangABC
has story.
We love the
@survivepunishNY
commissary fund team, who are building impactful relationships and systems of care with incarcerated comrades across NY. They are doubling their efforts in the face of ongoing pandemic. Let's help them distribute $50k! Donate:
None of this was enough to convince Chana Krauss that Chris abused Nikki. So how could Nikki have trusted the system to prosecute Chris and kept her safe if she left? It was his word against hers in life AND death.
While we celebrate
#DVSJA
victories, we MUST make sure they have a safe place to land, & a chance to heal. Let’s help walk Shantell home, just like we’ll do for Nikki.
If you’re able, please donate and help this
#criminalizedsurvivor
start her new life of freedom!
Just launched
#StandWithTracy
store. Please buy your gear or show your support by donating, while helping me to make it through this fight for justice.
ABC has a new segment on Nikki Addimando, uplifting the
@StandWithNikki
campaign & the vital reporting of
@justinevdl
.
S&P NY's own
@ACSawyerJustice
brought 🔥 w/ crucial political context on nationwide efforts to fight the criminalization of survival.
What's new & noteworthy this week:
-
@WSJ
's Bad Bets unravels big-business dramas
-
@lemonadamedia
's Believe Her is true crime, upside down
-
@MCSerch
's Did I Ever Tell You The One About covers
@MFDOOM
“A victim must report to the right people at the right time, have documentation but not too much documentation...There is no way survivors are going to be able to navigate this.” — Kate Mogulescu
@brooklynlaw
#DVSJA
#FreeNikki
#SurvivedandPunished
As Monica Cosby has said “if there is anybody out here who’s never been in prison that can understand what it feels like to be in prison, it’s someone who’s been stuck in an abusive and violent relationship.”
#FreeSurvivors
#FreeThemAll
#DenimDayNYC
#SurvivedandPunished
4/4
I provide some legal context for understanding why Nikki and other criminalized survivors have such a difficult time convincing the legal system that they are victims of violence. Here's a clip from Chapter 4: Victim or Master Manipulator?
"And me...I looked at their pictures and their artwork and I cried. And then I ripped and layered and toothpasted the pieces all together...with salty lips and minty fingers, I cried and I cried and I stuck us back together again.”
Important stuff,
@govkathyhochul
, please bring our community member
#nikkiaddimando
home to her kids for Xmas. It’s past time. 5 years too long. Appreciate the time… best to you and yours. Jdm
Criminalization—policing, prosecution, trial + incarceration—replicates the cycle of abuse for survivors of gender-based violence. Instead,
@NYCSpeakerCoJo
@NYCMayor
should radically invest in what survivors need
#NYCcarenotcages
#defundNYPD
From
@justinevdl
's reporting:
@survivepunish
estimates thousands of survivors are in prison for defending themselves.
Prosecutors challenge credibility to get convictions.
“Women are not believed,” said
@rwhitedomain
“Women of color are never believed.”
Dear
@ManhattanDA
@AlvinBraggNYC
— this is what it looks like when a prosecutor boldly ignores evidence + convicts a survivor of abuse. Your office has a chance to do better. Just as
#WeStandWithNikki
, we also
#StandWithTracy
. And we won’t be quiet. Drop her charges!
After everything we witnessed Nikki endure in court, we’re STILL shocked to see how
@mccarter_tracy
’s case is being handled.
@ManhattanDA
: This is deplorable.
All eyes need to be on Tracy McCarter’s upcoming trial.
Now watching AND SO I STAYED, a heartbreaking documentary about abuse survivors incarcerated after defending themselves. Streaming between Nov 4th and Nov 21st via the St. Louis International Film Festival for $5:
As the first DVSJA decision to be issued by a New York appellate court, the
#NikkiAddimando
decision is precedent-setting and should pave the way for more compassionate treatment for survivors throughout the state.
@StandWithNikki
Domestic violence professionals + police saw Nikki tortured under a PornHub profile bearing his last name, which listed identifying information that matched Chris and was connected to his email.
#TraffickingHub
Coming up this Sunday is Part 2 of "Alive But Still Not Free." You'll hear how Nikki's history of extensive abuse was excluded from her trial and how a group of women have fought for 4 years to bring Nikki's truth to light.
#westandwithnikki
“Prioritizing criminalization as the primary policy response to gender-based violence has had devastating consequences — consequences that can no longer be called unintended because by now we are so familiar with them.”
@LeighGoodmark
Carceral feminists and other advocates clamored for the passage of the Violence Against Women Act. What the nation got in the decades since was more criminalization, incarceration, and violence.
But things don't have to be this way,
@LeighGoodmark
writes.
It’s Black History Month and criminalized survivor Tracy McCarter is still fighting for freedom from a fundamentally anti-Black ‘justice’ system punishing her for survival. We call on
@ManhattanDA
@AlvinBragg
to
#StandWithTracy
and
#DropHerCharges
We're a part of the Audience Award competition! If you're watching virtually or in STL, we'd be grateful for you to select AND SO I STAYED for the Audience Award 🏆! Details about how to vote virtually will appear right after watching the film.
#SLIFF2021
We will never give up, and this is why:
Nikki made this collage in jail, "glued" together with toothpaste, and sent it to her children, Ben and Faye as a gift. Along with it was this note to her sister:
Our committee signed onto this letter with more than 35 other groups and orgs to demand that
@ManhattanDA
Alvin Bragg drop all charges against Tracy McCarter, who is being criminalized for her survival of domestic violence!
#DropHerCharges
#StandWithTracy
90% of folx incarcerated in women’s prisons have experienced physical or sexual violence. They need safety and healing. This wheel shows that instead of that they are subjected to more violence and abuse.
#DenimDay
#DenimDayNYC
#FreeThemAll
#FreeSurvivors
3/4
Tell me why even the *best* outcome — being acquitted of murder and a jury agreeing it was self defense — still ends with more than 2 years of a prison sentence? For possessing a gun that the jury decided Leah used to PROTECT her life?
✨Sentencing Update✨
Leah was sentenced to the maximum of 27 months. Leah is in good spirits and we hope to get an update on her release date in few weeks.
Please consider donating to her fundraiser to continue to support her.
We agree!
Please sign Nikki’s petition to show
@GovKathyHochul
that Nikki, a beloved mother of two young kids, should not be in prison for killing her abuser in self-defense:
@Maria27412643
@48hours
Exactly. Her only motive was to survive. His life insurance policy was left to his parents, not even his kids. She would have received nothing except freedom from abuse. Instead she is now being abused by the system.
In honor of her 31st birthday, would you consider making a $31 donation to her fund?
We have set a goal to raise $5,000 in honor of Nikki’s birthday by December 1. Anything you give will make a big difference and will be put to immediate use.
The graphic shows the same violence that permeates abusive relationships outside of prison is enacted by the state inside prison walls. For example, the way an abuser uses emotional abuse tactics is exactly the same way the COs and other prison staff treats incarcerated folx. 2/4
We're so excited to announce that AND SO I STAYED was selected for the 30th Annual Whitaker
@STLFilmFest
from November 4-21!
If you missed us at South Arts, you can pre-order your virtual access tickets NOW because there are only 239 🎟s left!
#SLIFF2021
A therapist watched a video of Chris raping Nikki while she said “no.” A different therapist saw death threats come into Nikki’s phone from the contact “Chris” in real time during a session.
The prosecution used all of the arguments that Nikki's abuser warned he'd use against her: she's a liar, a whore, it was consensual, she liked it, invited it.
"No one will believe you."
The Putnam County DAs office stepped in and adopted the voice of an abuser.
@andreagonram
@typeinvestigate
@justinevdl
@GENmag
Thank you for sharing Nikki's story. Those of us who experienced the trial in real time are grateful to have strong voices shine a light on the blatant injustice and misogyny.
Criminalization—policing, prosecution, trial, & incarceration—replicates & perpetuates the cycle of abuse for survivors of domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence. All survivors should be free & not criminalized for surviving violence
#FreeSurvivors
#FreeThemAll
#DenimDayNYC
You’re invited to a private screening of
@AndSoIStayed
in
#Beacon
NY, May 24. Ticket proceeds will go directly to Nikki. Spread the word, tickets are limited!
But today her future is uncertain and her children ache for her. All we know is that her current present reality is wrong, and inhumane, and anything but happy.