TPI is posting advocacy letters we have written to provide examples of violence against persons in prison, primarily against trans and queer persons in Texas prisons. Personal identifying information has been removed for all incarcerated persons, and named staff or other persons causing harm is removed on a case by case basis.
Content warning: Some of these letters describe threats and incidents of violence that may be disturbing. We will note whether each letter is considered a low, moderate, or high risk for being disturbing. We consider this letter to be high risk.
The person in this letter has identified to TPI as a transgender woman. She has reported sexual assault by a guard, who then proceeded to harass her and threaten her if she reported the incident, and then to retaliate against her when she did report it. Other staff participated in what can only be described as an attempt to cover up the abuses by the guard. The issue is discussed in two complaints to the TDCJ PREA Ombudsman, submitted in January and February 2022. The first complaint was filed with information we had initially, and the second provided some additional information and subsequent violence against the trans woman survivor.
In response to the actions by the incarcerated trans woman and our complaints, eventually the guard who sexually assaulted her was terminated. However, the trans woman was told that she was lying and her story was unsubstantiated, which means they are claiming there is less than a 50% chance it happened. TDCJ claims about 97% of all allegations to be either unsubstantiated or unfounded (claiming they did not happen), and this is often accomplished by refusing to investigate appropriately, manipulating the narrative of the survivor, claiming sexual assault is “consensual,” or simply claiming the person is lying.