Chapter 3: The Silencing

Nikki was abused, doubted and silenced from a young age — and yet, there were still too many so-called “bad facts” that helped the prosecution build their case against her. This week, Justine talks to one of Nikki’s childhood friends about witnessing the early abuse and the cycle of trauma that followed. Resources: If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, use a safe computer and contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at or call 1-800-799-7233. You can also search for a local domestic violence shelter at If you have experienced sexual assault and need support, visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) at or call 1-800-656-HOPE. Have questions about consent? Take a look at this guide from RAINN at Learn more about criminalized survival in New York State at Learn more about the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act at Read Justine’s May 2020 investigative piece on Nikki’s case at Follow the We Stand With Nikki campaign on Instagram at @westandwithnikki, on Twitter at @standwithnikki and on their webpage at Justine van der Leun is the host and lead reporter. This series is produced by Justine van der Leun and supervising producer Kristen Lepore. The associate producer is Giulia Hjort. The production assistant is Rory James Leech. Additional reporting by Kristen Lepore and Giulia Hjort. Mixing and sound design by Kegan Zema. Music by RRA aka Sara Abdelaal. Fact checking by Justin Kloczko. Additional audio engineering by Ivan Kuraev. Story editing by Jackie Danziger. Story consulting by Amy Metsch. The executive producers are Stephanie Wittels Wachs, Jessica Cordova Kramer, and Spiegel & Grau. Believe Her is created in partnership with Spiegel & Grau. Follow them on Twitter and Instagram at @spiegelandgrau. Follow Justine on Twitter at @justinevdl and on Instagram at @jvanderleun. Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia. If you want to continue the conversation with other listeners, please join our Believe Her podcast community on Bookclubz at and our Facebook group at Interested in bonus content and behind the scenes material?

You can listen to Chapter 3: The Silencing online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Chapter 3: The Silencing is an episode from Believe Her by Lemonada Media.

This episode is 56:07 long.

This episode was published on Oct 28, 2021.

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