Thread by @theappeal

Recently @theappeal published the story of Brittany Smith who says she was brutally raped twice the night she killed the man responsible. She's now charged with murder & facing life in prison.

There are many women like Brittany Smith. theappeal.org/alabama-woman-…

She is one of many women to survive physical & sexual violence only to be punished by the criminal legal system. @theappeal has told some of their stories.

Cyntoia Brown was 16 when she killed a 43-year-old man who picked her up for sex in self defense. theappeal.org/not-a-cardboar…

Since Cyntoia Brown's case garnered national attention she has been granted clemency and released from prison, drawing attention to other women in similar situations, such as trafficking survivor, Alexis Martin.

theappeal.org/if-cyntoia-bro…

In 1996, Michelle Benjamin was just 16, when she was sentenced to life without parole for killing a man who she said pulled a gun on her after she rejected his sexual advances.

theappeal.org/sentenced-to-l…

Catina Curley and her children were subjected to more than a decade of physical abuse by her husband. When she killed him in self defense she was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

theappeal.org/new-orleans-wo…

Please note: Michelle Benjamin was released on parole in February, 2019, and Catina Curley was acquitted, after being granted a new trial in March 2019.

For more stories on women who have survived physical and sexual violence, only to be punished by the criminal justice system, please see theappeal.org.