In 2006, 23-year-old Karli Butler had just started grad school. “The world was literally at my fingertips,” she told The Marshall Project. One night, she was brutally attacked by two women with a gun and acid. She suffered third-degree, full-thickness burns to 30% of her body. Since then, she has had over a dozen surgeries. In this installment of We Are Witnesses, she talks about her recovery and the complex evolution of feelings she has had towards her attackers. “There was a point in time where all I could think about was doing bad things to this woman and wishing evil on her,” Butler explained. “But after spending more time in the courtroom, and seeing her family, seeing her daughter, made me see her more as a person.” After the attack, Butler returned to grad school and earned a master’s degree in organizational and cultural communication. Today, she advocates for other survivors of violence.

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