What Justice Thru Storytelling Does

JTS is a nonprofit organization based in West Michigan that seeks to change the narratives of women who face imprisonment for defending themselves or their children from potentially deadly domestic violence. We are focused on changing a longstanding ruling, People v Christel, that restricts testimony regarding battered women’s syndrome in trials of those accused of injuring or killing their abusers in self-defense. By changing the ruling to be more in keeping with the majority of other states, psychologists and other domestic violence experts will be able to testify on behalf of women in Michigan who stand accused of crimes against their abusers.

 

Why JTS is Important

In July 2017, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report confirmed that most female homicides involve domestic violence. The majority of victims were killed by current or former intimate partners: boyfriends, husbands, and lovers. The irony is that prisons nationwide have become a domestic violence shelter for many women who fought back in acts of self-defense. Many women find themselves in a “kill or be killed” situation. But the courts don’t recognize their actions as self-defense because women don’t have enough evidence, a good attorney, or an expert on battered women’s syndrome who will testify on their behalf. In the state of Michigan, many women are serving 30 years to LIFE sentences in prison.

DID YOU KNOW?

Law enforcement say that a woman is in the most danger when she’s trying to leave an abusive relationship.

Choking and strangulation are the most common forms of abuse.

Advocates say head injuries can leave a woman so impaired she can’t manage her job or life.
Some of them end up homeless.

1 in 3

Women suffer from domestic violence

52 per month

Women are shot to death by a current or former boyfriend or husband

$36,000
per prisoner

Cost of an inmate per year in Michigan

10 per month

Women in Michigan are murdered

VIDEOS

Giving Voices to the Voiceless

Support the #Justice4Women Campaign, which Aims to Advocate for Battered Women in Prison Due to the Double Injustice of the Justice System

We need the resources to advocate to the Governor and Parole Board, Judges, Prosecutors, Legislators and Law Enforcement.

Blog

Domestic Violence Survivors Write Letters to Seaman In Prison

During the 14 years of my incarceration, letters from survivors of domestic abuse have arrived almost daily and now fill the footlocker in my prison cell. People from all walks of life from as far away as Singapore write to share the most private details of the domestic abuse they have endured. It’s a secret

Read More

In Their Voice

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Please join our advocacy efforts and pass on your own words of wisdom for women in need of guidance and support.

I WOULD NEVER TELL A WOMAN TO GO OUT AND BUY A GUN.

“I would never tell a woman to go out and buy a gun to have in her home for self-defense. It could backfire on her and she might end up in prison. I would tell women to get a few dogs instead.”

Lu – a woman who lived in constant fear of her former husband who threatened to kill her and her daughter on numerous occasions. She has been in prison for over 26-years.

KEEP A DOCUMENTED RECORD OF THE ABUSE FOR EVIDENCE.

“If you are questioning whether or not certain behavior is abusive more than likely it is. My advice would be to tell someone preferably the police. And keep a documented record of the abuse in case you need evidence. Most importantly separate yourself from the abuser as soon as you can. Move out. Just get away.”

Pamela – Michigan

I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW SOME BEHAVIOR WAS CONSIDERED ABUSE.

“Looking back I can tell you today that I know from my own experience and from talking to other women that you don’t even know that certain behavior was considered abuse. I think women have been somewhat conditioned to think it’s their fault or they don’t measure up in some way versus automatically knowing that what’s happening to them is considered abuse.”

Kim – Michigan