Survivor Stories
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Johanna, California
Johanna, California
Johanna was raped by her work supervisor while serving time at a California state prison. After reporting her rapist, Johanna faced severe retaliation, and was eventually transferred to a prison in Nevada. A member of JDI’s Survivor Council, Johanna is a leading advocate in the fight to ensure the safety of incarcerated people.
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Trish, Oklahoma
Trish, Oklahoma
Trish is a transgender woman who has been sexually abused repeatedly during her 30 years of being incarcerated in men’s prisons in Oklahoma.
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Kristal, Connecticut
Kristal, Connecticut
Kristal was sexually assaulted in a holding cell by a marshal tasked with transporting her to court.
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Alairis, Louisiana
Alairis, Louisiana
Alairis was sexually assaulted repeatedly by her work supervisor. After she reported the assault, prison officials berated her and transferred her to a new facility, forcing her out of her bachelor’s degree program.
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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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Ca’Linda, Kentucky
Ca’Linda, Kentucky
Ca’Linda was sexually abused repeatedly by staff in two different Kentucky facilities. Although she bravely reported her abuse to prison officials and the police, Ca’Linda was not protected from further sexual assaults. Nor were her attackers held accountable. Ca’Linda is traumatized by the abuse, but finds comfort in sharing her story.
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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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In the summer of 2001, when I was just a teenager, a police officer sexually assaulted me outside my apartment complex in Virginia. As I was walking on the sidewalk with a friend, sometime after 11:00 pm, two white police officers stopped us. Then they frisked us. The officer who was frisking me grabbed my private part. I immediately complained, and he responded by grabbing me by my shirt from behind and choking me. He stopped only after the other police officer told him that somebody across the street was watching.
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While detained at the Rappahannock Regional Jail, a male corrections officer sexually assaulted Loretta over a period of months. She reported the abuse, which led to the officer’s conviction on sexual misconduct charges. As a result, staff and inmates have retaliated against Loretta.
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A transgender woman serving time in a men’s prison in Oklahoma, Heather* has been regularly subjected to degrading and abusive cross-gender strip searches.
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Derrick survived a sexual assault in a Florida prison — and the perpetrators got away with it. As a result of the abuse, Derrick struggles with depression, insomnia, and feelings of anger.
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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.