#SurvivedAndPunishedVarmennettu tili

We’re here live at the Free Them CA Panel and Letter Writing event discussing the intersection of criminalization & surviving gender based violence. We have an amazing panel of survivors sharing their stories: Barbara Chavez, Tammy Garvin, Kelly Savage, Ny Nourn, & Aminah Elster.

Q: How did you feel being sentenced to life and how did you survive it? Kelly had to repeatedly explain that she had been sentenced to LWOP because her loved ones couldn’t comprehend that (as an official once explained), it was “death row, just another type of death row.”

Barbara: Never believed would be incarcerated for the rest of her life. She got educated and started believing in her freedom. In her 18th year, she got commuted.

Tammy: Signed up for lifer groups and people often asked her why she bothered. She replied that you never know, things can change. Started going to classes, became a counselor, and attended DV courses. She was was one of 10 picked for commutation.

Brandy: While in prison, in the first year she thought she’d never be beaten again. But also if she was never beaten, she’d never be loved again. The abuse taught her to equate being beaten with being love. DV programs finally came to prison and she finally opened up.

Q: Can you share something about those still incarcerated and what we can do to amplify their voices? Ny: Survivors feel a lot of guilt and shame. Survivors inside need to know they’re loved and cared for, that they’re more than the label put on them.