Survivor Stories
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Rafael, New York
Rafael, New York
After serving 23 years without incident, Rafael encountered a corrections officer who conducted abusive pat searches on inmates. Despite Rafael’s effort to report the officer, nothing was done.
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Frank, California
Frank, California
While in a Los Angeles jail, Frank suffered persistent harassment by corrections officers for being openly gay. After a particularly intense verbal attack, Frank was beaten and raped by an officer in the middle of the night. He was released a few days later, and filed formal complaints.
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Jan, Michigan
Jan, Michigan
A power-obsessed prison worker abused Jan and many other inmates for years before he was caught. Years later, Jan and hundreds of female state prisoners settled a class action suit with Michigan for over $100 million after a jury found that prison officials for years ignored cases of rape, sexual advances, and groping by staff.
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Some of these stories are graphic, uncensored accounts of actual rapes and surrounding circumstances. The language used may be raw and include street slang. JDI has made only minor edits for spelling and clarity. The views expressed are those of the individual survivor/author, and are not necessarily the views of Just Detention International.
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James was sexually assaulted many times by his cellmate while corrections officials turned a blind eye. He was only able to escape his abuser by telling staff that he was suicidal.
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James was raped twice in two days by a prisoner in a Massachusetts jail. The assaults left him feeling devastated, and triggered deeply painful feelings related to his childhood abuse.
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Eric was raped at knifepoint on the exercise yard in broad daylight. He was raped again on the very next day by a different prisoner, who demanded sexual favors in return for protection.
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Clarence was the target of repeated sexual assaults by other inmates while serving time in a Texas prison. Staff intervened only when Clarence threatened to hurt himself, and on many occasions they have retaliated against him for reporting.
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Katrina is a transgender woman who has been sexually abused repeatedly by staff and other prisoners in a men’s prisons. One of Katrina’s attackers had been placed in her cell despite her repeated warnings that he was a threat.