The Perfect Victim Is a Dead Woman

The useful part

It is a story about impossible circumstances propelling us down pathways we believe unimaginable. "Our last encounter was him trying to choke me, and me stabbing him." Naomi sighs and leans against the passenger seat of my car, ending the story of the night she killed her abuser. Initially facing five to 25 years in prison, her sentence was reduced under New York state's Domestic Violence Survivor Justice Act to three years' incarceration, with five years of post-release supervision.

How it works

• Even the District Attorney's office acknowledged Naomi was a victim of domestic violence, which "was a significant contributing factor" to her behavior.
• When the options available to her were kill or be killed, why was she even indicted?
• We live in a world that punishes survivors and creates more victims with generous latitude inexplicably afforded to men who have proven themselves dangerous to society.
• It seems that the only perfect victim is a dead one, a woman who can't talk back.

Details worth keeping

This is a story about choices that are not really choices. You always believe it could never happen to you, until it does. A grand jury indicted her for second-degree murder.