Take a Minute to Send a Holiday Message to a Prison Rape Survivor

A foolproof way to feel good about yourself this holiday season is to send a message to a survivor of prison sexual abuse.

And it’s your lucky day: the group Just Detention International allows you to do just that right on their website.

Contrary to their mean reputations, Gawker readers have in fact sent thousands of these messages in past years when we posted this charity on our site. Just Detention’s staff has sent along to us a few examples of responses from prisoners who received these holiday.

From Juvencia, a survivor of sexual abuse in a Colorado prison: “Just knowing that there are so many people who care about how inmates are being treated makes all the difference. I truly appreciate it — thank you.”

From Ivory, a survivor of sexual abuse in a Texas prison: “It fills my eyes with tears of joy to know and understand that someone really does care. Being here in this wicked environment, having to accept so much cruelty and physical abuse, I’d like very much to thank JDI and their many supporters.”

From Ca’Linda, a survivor of sexual abuse in a Kentucky prison: “In this cold lonely world I often wonder if anyone cares, if I’m truly as alone as I often feel. Today I received a lot of cards from the JDI supporters and as I read them I cried tears of joy. I’ve been in solitary isolation for 4 years and I’ve often regretted telling on my abuser but today I’m glad I did because I know there are people out there who genuinely care. I can’t thank you enough for letting me I’m not forgotten. That I matter even though I’m alone. I hope that god blesses each and every one of you who take the time to care for us. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

You can send a holiday message to a prison rape survivor here. Please do. It might mean more than you think.

Originally posted at: http://gawker.com/take-a-minute-to-send-a-holiday-message-to-a-prison-rap-1746013017