In 2020, COVID-19 is magnifying the dangers of staying at home with an abuser or having to share custody of a child with a violent ex — circumstances that existed well before the pandemic because of how our society and legal system responds to domestic violence victims. Today, women’s prison populations across the nation are teeming with survivors like Nicole “Nikki” Addimando. She is among the 67 percent of women in New York who are sentenced to prison for killing someone who abused them. Within the two weeks that Nikki and Kim tried to leave their violent relationships, they were 70 times more likely to get killed by their abusers, according to the Domestic Violence Intervention Program.

As Wendy, Kim's younger sister, said on-camera, “Do you really think for a second that a piece of paper protects you? No it doesn't. It's sad that my sister's relationship had to teach me so quickly that in life, if you let someone abuse you, you're the one who's going to end up paying.” While a restraining order can help in some cases, Wendy isn’t wrong. A 10-city study found that 30 percent of homicide victims with temporary protective orders were murdered within the first month of filing the order.

AND SO I STAYED is a moving portrait of Kim and Nikki, separated by over 30 years, with virtually the same story of women not being believed and being criminalized for fighting back. A vicious cycle that we're seeing over and over again in our country and all of the world. In fact, average prison sentence for men who kill their female partners is 2 to 6 years, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. But, the average sentence for women who kill their male partners is 15 years. This, despite the fact that, as stated by NCADV’s findings, most women kill their abusive partners in self-defense.