Survivor Stories

JDI has made only minor edits for spelling and clarity. Please note that some of these stories are graphic and may be difficult to read.

  • Adam is an openly gay prisoner who was gang raped and sexually assaulted by detainees at the New Orleans Parish Prison over a period of two months in 2009. During those two months, Adam filed repeated emergency grievances and requested protective custody, but was denied. He agreed to have this testimony read at the Department of Justice’s Review Panel on Prisoner Rape in 2011.

  • Robin was raped by an extradition agent while she was being extradited back to the US. Robin sued the perpetrator’s employer and the case was settled for an undisclosed amount.

  • 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.

  • Angela is a transgender woman who was repeatedly abused in a Colorado prison. After she reported the abuse, nothing was done to protect her.

  • 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.