On January 4th, 2024, Nikki Addimondo was released from prison and reunited with her family. To celebrate, we are sharing two excerpts that were previously only available to our Lemonada Premium subscribers. These two conversations speak to the range of the incredible reporting in this series – one touches on the heart of Nikki’s personal story and the other reminds us that Nikki was not the only person put behind bars for trying to save her own life – this is an issue still impacting so many others.

Resources:

• Follow the We Stand With Nikki campaign on Instagram at @westandwithnikki, on Twitter at @standwithnikki, and on their webpage at www.westandwithnikki.com.
• Nikki’s sister, Michelle Horton, wrote about Nikki’s story in her book Dear Sister: A Memoir of Secrets, Survival, and Unbreakable Bonds
• Check out Justine van der Leun’s book We Are Not Such Things: The Murder of a Young American, a South African Township, and the Search for Truth and Reconciliation
• Read Monica Cosby’s writing here
• If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, use a safe computer and contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at www.thehotline.org or call 1-800-799-7233. You can also search for a local domestic violence shelter at www.domesticshelters.org/.
• If you have experienced sexual assault and need support, visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) at www.rainn.org or call 1-800-656-HOPE
• Have questions about consent? Take a look at this guide from RAINN at www.rainn.org/articles/what-is-consent.
• Learn more about criminalized survival in New York State at www.survivedandpunishedny.org/.
• Learn more about the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act at www.nysda.org/page/DVSJA.
• Read Justine’s May 2020 investigative piece on Nikki’s case at www.gen.medium.com/nikki-had-proof-shed-been-abused-but-was-it-enough-for-self-defense-bd9f196396eb.

Believe Her is created in partnership with Spiegel & Grau. Follow them on Twitter and Instagram at @spiegelandgrau.

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