In addition to pressure and temperature effects, shear strain has been proposed to play an important role in the initiation and decomposition mechanisms of energetic materials. To study the effect of shear strain in more detail, a shear diamond anvil cell has been developed. In this paper, we present a Raman spectroscopy study of the effects of shear strain on the high-pressure behaviour of nitromethane (NM). Two major effects are observed in our experiments. The first one is a lowering of the pressures at which the different structural modifications of NM occur. The second one is observed at 28 GPa, where the sample decomposes suddenly just after shear application. Examination of the black residue showed that it is composed of carbon, as indicated by the Raman spectrum.