Criminalizing Captives

They didn’t just kill their abusers.
They killed for a way out—
and then they were punished for it.

These girls were trapped.
Sold. Purchased. Raped.
And beyond the physical, the mindfuck trap is bottomless. They were taught they were insignificant—only valuable for the pleasure some sick man could get from their pain.

And when their humanity broke through, they found a way out.
Through the blood of their captors.
I say: Good riddance.

I’ve been a victim of abuse.
The violent, not-made-for-TV kind.
Physical. Sexual. Emotional. Psychological.
The kind that leaves scars no one sees.

He tried to kill me more than once.
I remember one night—driving a car key into his face just to make him let go.

So when I say I know what this entrapment feels like—this endless hell—I mean it.

These girls did what they had to do.

And the system punished them anyway.

• Cyntoia Brown

She was 16.
Trafficked. Surviving.
A man picked her up for sex.
She feared for her life—
So she shot him.

They gave her life in prison.
No mercy. No context. No care.
Only after 15 years of pressure and headlines did the state commute her sentence.

• Chrystul Kizer

She was 17 when she shot Randy Volar—a 34-year-old man who had abused her for months.

There were videos of what he did.
He had harmed other girls too.
Police arrested him… and released him the same day.

Four months later, Chrystul defended herself.
And now she’s the one in prison.

The judge told her:

“You are not permitted to be the instrument of his reckoning.”

But the state never protected her.
So who the hell was supposed to?

She’s out on bond, still awaiting trial, and facing a life sentence.

• Sara Kruzan

She was groomed at 13.
At 16, she killed the man who’d exploited her for years.

She was sentenced to life without parole.
It took 19 years—and a national outcry—to finally get her out.

Her words?

“I wanted to stop him from hurting me.”

For that, she was caged.

• Tammy Garvin

She was 19.
Caught in a trafficking ring in Las Vegas.

She was forced to help recruit other girls.
Trauma makes you do what you need to do to survive.

But the court didn’t care.
21 years to life.
Not because she was dangerous—
But because she resisted.

She’s finally free now.
Her trafficker? Never served a day.

What kind of system punishes girls for surviving?

We hear about trafficking. We hear that there’s help.
But where?

The police let Randy Volar walk the same day they arrested him.
That’s not protection.

And I get it—there are legal processes.
But if you're going to release the predator, at least protect the girl while he's free.
That’s not complicated.

What will it take for this to stop?

I don’t have the answers.
But I know this: it’s broken. And some of these women are only free because of public outrage. That tells me I’m not the only one pissed off.

Is it about race?
Gender?
Power?

Probably all of it.
But mostly—it’s just wrong.

We have power.
We vote for representatives.
We elect judges.
We sit on juries.
We influence policy by giving a damn.

This is why I started Lipstick and Lacerations.
To say what needs saying.
To wake people up.

Because I don’t think I’m alone when I say:
I’ve had enough.