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.

  • John was a teenager when he was detained at a county jail for a probation violation, where another inmate attempted to rape him. When he was later incarcerated at a New York state prison, John experienced further sexual abuse.

  • At the age of 22, Meagan was sent to prison in Kentucky where she was abused for months by a corrections officer. Despite her fears, she reported the abuse, and was raped by two other corrections officers in retaliation for speaking out.

  • Valjean Royal is a transgender woman who has survived multiple sexual assaults since she was first detained as a 17-year-old. She has endured sexual abuse in county jails and in state and federal prisons.

     

  • Arrested during a high school party when he was 18, Chance was beaten and repeatedly raped in an Indiana jail.

  • An insulin dependent diabetic, James has been sexually assaulted by staff and inmates in state and federal prisons. Most recently, he was gang-raped in a Texas prison. He filed a report, but no investigation was conducted as James couldn’t identify the perpetrators.