What happens when girls survive the wrong way?

In this pilot episode of Lipstick and Lacerations, Alicia Kay dives into the stories of Chrystul Kizer, Cyntoia Brown, Sara Kruzan, and Tammy Garvin—four girls who were groomed, trafficked, abused… and then punished for fighting back.

These are not cautionary tales. They are indictments.

Of a system that protects predators. Of a culture that expects girls to endure. And of the brutal truth: Self-defense isn’t always considered legal when you're poor, Black, brown, or inconvenient.

Listen in as we unpack how survival becomes a crime—and why the world would rather cage a girl than confront what put her there.

Music- Alena Smirnova: Sorrow

Sources & Further Reading

Chrystul Kizer

• The Washington Post: “Chrystul Kizer killed her alleged sex trafficker. Prosecutors still want to put her in prison.”
• The Guardian: “Chrystul Kizer, accused of killing alleged sex trafficker, released from jail on bond”
• New York Times: “Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules for Teen Charged With Killing Her Abuser”

Cyntoia Brown

• PBS Independent Lens: Me Facing Life: Cyntoia's Story (documentary)
• NPR: “Cyntoia Brown, Sentenced To Life At 16, Walks Free After Clemency”
• The Tennessean: “Cyntoia Brown-Long: Timeline of her case, clemency, and release”

Sara Kruzan

• Human Rights Watch: “The Case of Sara Kruzan”
• CNN: “She was sentenced to life for killing her pimp. Now she’s free—and telling her story.”
• The Appeal: “Sara Kruzan's Clemency Case Reveals a Broken System”

Tammy Garvin

• The Girls Who Went Away and related survivor interviews
• Sex Workers Outreach Project USA (SWOP-USA) case records
• The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State (by Nadia Murad – used here for trafficking survivor lens/context)

General Sources

• National Center for Youth Law: Juvenile justice & sex trafficking
• National Survivor Network
• Polaris Project: Human trafficking and the criminalization of survivors
• “Arrested Justice: Black Women, Violence, and America’s Prison Nation” by Beth Richie (contextual source)