Joe's Story

Joe was raped over three days in a California state prison by a sex offender who had also raped other gay men in the institution. During the course of those torturous days, Joe tried to ask for help, but was ignored by officers whose job it was to protect him. Luckily for Joe, the perpetrator suffered a cardiac arrest and was rushed out of the cell on the third day. Joe was able to get help from a nurse who alerted her supervisor. Once the supervisor was notified, Joe was chained nude to a chair in the dayroom. All of the other prisoners could see him until he was escorted out of the prison for a forensic exam. The first compassionate response Joe received was when he met with a rape crisis advocate at the forensic exam site. 

This is an edited clip of Joe sharing parts of his story during a conference on prison medical and mental health.