Stoneleigh Fellow Sara Kruzan has published a new op-ed for The Washington Post about Chrystal Kizer, a young, exploited woman who killed her abuser.
In 2008, Wisconsin lawmakers wisely tried to protect victims of child sex trafficking by passing a law saying victims who commit crimes as a “direct result” of being trafficked can use that as a defense against being convicted. But a recent murder case against a 16-year-old victim who killed her abuser raises questions about whether victims can access those protections in practice.
Wisconsin resident Chrystul Kizer was 16 when she was repeatedly sexually abused and trafficked by a child predator. Her abuser even filmed the times he raped her. She was not his only victim. He was arrested but then released without bail, despite the police finding he was sexually abusing a dozen underage Black girls in the area.
