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.
-
Bryson was raped by at least 27 inmates over the course of nine months during his incarceration at an Arkansas state prison. Bryson, who contracted HIV as a result of the attacks, passed away in 2010.
-
Christopher is a prisoner in a Texas state prison who has been sexually assaulted multiple times. He has often been forced to seek protection from one perpetrator in order to avoid further assaults.
-
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.
-
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.
-
I went out with a friend to the store to pick up diapers for my daughter, and as we were walking back to the shelter where we were staying, we got caught in the midst of a police drug raid. My friend and I were surrounded by a group of police officers who threw us against the wall and immediately began verbally assaulting us. A female officer was called to search us for drugs.