Survivor Stories

They were both narcotics detectives. They were both armed. It wasn’t clear if they were on duty or off. I had never met them before, but my boyfriend, a drug dealer, saw them all the time. They targeted my boyfriend because he wouldn’t pay them a cut of his drug money.

We were coming from a nightclub when they pulled us over. They called my boyfriend a racial slur, and punched him in the face. Then they handcuffed him and made him sit on the curb. They snatched me out of the car, and told me to grab the hood. I had on a mini-skirt. They made my boyfriend watch as they roughly squeezed my breasts.  When they reached under my skirt they found out that I had male private parts. That’s when they started calling us freaks, and fags, and creatures.

When I get frisked in prison, I’m afraid. Due to flashbacks, I sometimes lash out physically at corrections officers when they search me. I experience serious panic attacks.

I would like to let the public know that if you are ever abused or harassed sexually by law enforcement, or anybody else, it is NOT your fault. It’s the assailant’s fault.

— Shaylanna, California