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.

  • When I was younger, I used to take walks at night. On several occasions, the same sheriff’s deputy would stop me — asking me friendly questions. But once he realized I was gay, he became threatening.

  • A member of correctional medical staff sexually abused Policarpio at Kern Valley State Prison in California. The abuse caused him to develop depression and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, but the administration has denied him treatment.

  • Rosa was sexually abused repeatedly by staff in two different Kentucky facilities. Although she bravely reported her abuse to prison officials and the police, Rosa was not protected from further sexual assaults. Nor were her attackers held accountable. Rosa is traumatized by the abuse, but finds comfort in sharing her story.

  • 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.

  • 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.