A Film Tries to Make a Difference for Domestic Violence Survivors
The New York Times, June 11, 2021: A Film Tries to Make a Difference for Domestic Violence Survivors
“In 2013, Tanisha Davis, a 26-year-old woman from Rochester, N.Y., was sentenced to 14 years in prison for killing her boyfriend, at whose hands she suffered, she said, nearly seven years of abuse, including choking, death threats and a beating on the night he died. The judge agreed that she was a victim of domestic violence but said her response did not merit leniency. ‘You handled the situation all wrong,’ he told her. ‘You could have left.’
“In 2021, because of a new law that allows survivors of domestic violence more nuanced consideration in the courts, the same judge released Davis, thanks in part to a documentary (And So I Stayed) that helped frame her case.”
Additional reading:
And So I Stayed (Natalie Pattillo and Daniel A. Nelson, 2021)
The Atlantic, May 21, 2019: When Abuse Victims Commit Crimes
The Appeal, September 3, 2020: New York Lawmakers Fear Court May Render Domestic Violence Surivor Law ‘Meaningless’
