This article titled “Project to Bring Healing from Sexual Assault Behind Bars” celebrates the four year anniversary of the #MeTooMovement. A group called Just Detention International, created a “Prisoners Too” program last year with incarcerated people in South Carolina. The women created butterfly murals to talk about their sexual assault traumas. The Just Detention group plans to carry on the same program in Maryland and hopefully other states in the future. Jane, a formerly incarcerated survivor from Maryland talks about how she wish they had a program similar to this 20 years ago. While Jane faced drug charges in D.C, she said she was raped multiple times by a prison guard who received no punishment. Jane’s mental healing came from a therapist she spoke with about what happened to her. She mentions how it will forever affect her life and other women who experience similar things need to receive the support this campaign gives so they don’t “just give up on life and become more depressed and even more hopeless”. I thought this would be a good article to discuss because we have all learned a lot about the Me Too Movement and for it to expand for incarcerated women as well is huge! I honestly loved the idea as soon as I begin reading it, because these are women who most likely need the most support. Because the guard the assaulted Jane was never punished, she says it left her feeling “unheard and traumatized”. This immediately made me think of how many women that are behind bars going through the same thing. Knowing you’re not alone is the first step and I’m glad this program could help these women.
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I think this is really interesting and important topic. We discussed the #MeToo movement in class, but bringing this concept to prions in their own way is wonderful. I think violence to incarcerated people is under-addressed and represented as a problem in the world. This has to do with victims not being able to talk about their experiences, and or not wanting to from embarrassment. The violence isn’t strictly between prisoners either, power is also abused by the authority in these prisons. It’s sad that making a mistake could place you in a dangerous environment where you can’t feel safe for one moment, but what’s worse is that half the time none gets justice or help with these problems. That’s why I think Prisoners Too is important.