“If the violence is unabated, we risk losing our lives.
If we defend ourselves, we risk losing our freedom.”
- Marissa Alexander, criminalized survivor (watch her TEDTalk)
Thursday, May 22, 2025
8:30-10:30am
Whatcom Community College, Syre Center 107/108
Salal berries are considered a significant food resource for Coast Salish peoples. Its leaves are used for medicine.
Who is a criminalized survivor?
Survivors of sexual or domestic violence who are facing punishment through the civil or criminal legal, immigration enforcement, child protection, or other systems for crimes or acts related to the abuse they experienced.
This can mean they:
used violence in self-defense or retaliation
participated in a crime as an opportunity for independence
were forced into a crime
were blamed for “failure to protect” their children from the abuser
were accused of and faced consequences for “false reporting”
It can also mean that an abuser lied to have the survivor arrested, detained, deported, lose custody, or other consequence.
According to the ACLU, nearly 50% of people in women’s prison nationwide, and as many as 94% of some women’s prison populations, have a history of physical or sexual abuse before being incarcerated. This phenomenon is highly gendered and racialized.
Resources and information
Survived + Punished | #FreeThemAll (website)
Survivors FIRST: Working with domestic violence survivor-defendants (video about program at YWCA King/Snohomish Counties)
And So I Stayed (film trailer)
Colville Mother’s Conviction Raises Justice Issues Facing Native Women (article)
Believe Her (podcast)
I Was Criminalized as a Domestic Violence Survivor. Here’s How We Reform the System. (letter to the editor)
Victim/Suspect (documentary)
An Unbelievable Story of Rape (article) or Anatomy of a Doubt (podcast)