Better Supporting Criminalized Survivors

For many survivors of gender-based violence (GBV), the criminal legal system as designed is not a source of protection or support. Survivors may have been subject to any combination of ongoing violence, trafficking, stalking, sexual assault, emotional and financial abuse, or other forms of GBV. But instead of support, survivors are actually frequently prosecuted for crimes that they were either coerced into committing—drug charges, shoplifting, prostitution—or for defending themselves against the perpetrator of their abuse. The same behaviors and strategies that may have helped them survive while in or escaping violence are the ones that can tie them to the criminal legal system for the rest of their lives. And while this impacts women of every race and ethnicity, both the victimization and criminalization disproportionately affect women of color. Black and Latine women are both incarcerated at higher rates and experience higher rates of violence compared to their white counterparts, including homicide. 

 The impact of trauma combined with the collateral consequences of criminal legal system involvement requires services to be trauma and culturally responsive. Unfortunately, this is not often the case. Through every interaction, from unnecessary, retraumatizing interviews, to bias and harmful exclusionary criteria of program eligibility - survivors face widespread barriers accessing meaningful services and support.