Prison rape victims are getting thousands of Christmas cards

A prisoner rights group that distributes holiday cards to survivors of sexual abuse has collected more than 12,000 messages this season, shattering a previous record.

The campaign by Los Angeles-based Just Detention International — now in its seventh year — has sent roughly 10,000 messages in each of the past three years to hundreds of inmates who were raped or sexually assaulted in US jails or prisons. But the group’s latest effort has exceeded expectations by more than 20 percent.

The “Words of Hope” project gives people a chance to do an “uncomplicated, very positive thing” for a survivor of rape or sexual assault at a time of year when spirits can already be especially downtrodden, spokesman Jesse Lerner-Kinglake said. He suspects that the uptick in interest in the project has been driven by a tumultuous 2016.

Many supporters of the campaign praised the inmates for their strength, according to some of the messages reviewed by The Post.

“Never forget that you are so brave and so important! Know people are thinking of you,” one message signed with a heart read.

“I will always admire your bravery for speaking up and your strength,” read another note from Spain.

“It’s okay to be a glow stick — sometimes we need to break before we shine! Happy Holidays,” read another.

The messages — many written by correction officers, cops and even children — are given to the inmates confidentially.

Lerner-Kinglake said the surge in volunteer cards guarantees about 20 holiday greetings will be sent to 688 incarcerated survivors across 45 states this year, with Texas and California leading the pack. The recipients are inmates convicted of mostly non-violent offenses who have been in touch over the past year with Just Detention International, expressing a willingness to publicly share their stories.

One inmate identified only as Ca’linda, who was sexually assaulted in a Kentucky prison, said she often wondered if she was as “truly alone” as she feels while incarcerated.

“But when I read the cards from JDI supporters, they brought me tears of joy,” she said, according to the prisoner rights group. “I can’t thank you enough for letting me know I’m not forgotten.”

In 2011-12, an estimated 4 percent of state and federal prison inmates and 3.2 percent of jail inmates reported a sexual attack by another inmate or facility staff member over a 12-month period, according to Bureau of Justice statistics.

The reported rates were higher among females and whites. Inmates with a college degree also reported more attacks than those who did not finish high school. And people with mental illness were more likely to be victims, according to the statistics.

Originally posted here