Help Free Shirtorya Christian
At just twenty years of age, Shirtorya Christian defended herself from an abusive partner and was subsequently convicted of two counts of second degree murder and the use of a firearm. Incarcerated since 2003, she has served twenty years of a thirty-eight year sentence. During that time she has worked to become an exemplary leader of her community and educate herself in a number of different skills and fields. She has accomplished an associates degree from Piedmont Virginia Community College, earned a certificate in anger management, and completed an electrician’s apprenticeship. As abolitionists, The IWCSP does not believe that anyone must “earn” their freedom, nor do we believe that anyone’s freedom should be contingent on their “rehabilitation.” Nonetheless, we highlight Shirtorya’s accomplishments in order to demonstrate her commitment to self-improvement and her determination to return home. After two decades, she deserves to rest in the arms of her family.
Shirtorya is currently pursuing a petition for clemency, which she intends to file next summer. At this stage in the process, we are focused on spreading awareness of Shirtorya’s story and in raising public support for her campaign. Though a public petition is a single, modest piece of a larger clemency petition, it demonstrates community support for Shirtorya and will help strengthen her application. We encourage you to learn more about Shirtorya by reading and signing her Change.org petition.
If you would like to reach out to Shirtorya personally, write a letter in support of her that could be included as part of her clemency petition, or join our efforts to help free her, please email us at contact.iwcsp@gmail.com or by submitting a comment through our the contact form.
In addition to raising support for Shirtorya, we also want to highlight the ways in which her story is not unique. Far too often, Black womxn, girls, trans, and nonbinary people are made especially vulnerable to abuse, and their efforts to defend themselves are criminalized and intensely punished. Consequently, the harms of interpersonal violence are compounded by the harm done to survivors by the prison industrial complex. Our struggle as abolitionists is against this vulnerability and abuse as well as this criminalization and punishment, and we view the defense of criminalized survivors as an important, concrete action we can take to fight against these forms of oppression. By freeing Shirtorya, we hope to contribute to the freedom of all people, and we invite you to join us in supporting her.