Dear Friends and Donors to CCWP –
I was a prisoner inside FCI-Dublin for over a decade during the 16+ years I spent in the federal prisons. Since my release in 2001, I've been volunteering with the California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP), serving on its Advisory Board since 2012 and on its fundraising committee for over five years.
I'm writing to ask for your financial support for CCWP’s critical work advocating for survivors of sexual abuse at FCI Dublin. CCWP is one of the founding members of the Dublin Prison Solidarity Coalition (DPSC), formed to seek justice for survivors of the rampant sexual assault and sexual abuse from prison guards, a warden, and even a chaplain inside FCI-Dublin.
While incarcerated, I witnessed and experienced firsthand the sexual assault and sexual harassment that all people in women’s prisons must routinely endure. Women inside are captive and vulnerable. We have nowhere to go, no way to get away from a person in power who wants whatever they may want to take from us.
In 1995, while I was a prisoner at Dublin, some women were put in solitary confinement at the men’s detention facility next door as punishment for a so-called disciplinary infraction. That night, one of them was raped and sexually assaulted. But there was never any system-wide change nor accountability.
Over decades, the systemic abuse just worsened. In August 2023, CCWP became the organizational plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to bring about systemic change regarding sexual abuse and retaliation at Dublin. When the judge appointed a Special Master to monitor the prison, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) shut Dublin down to avoid oversight. People were transferred under humiliating and brutal conditions to prisons all over the United States.
A recent report from the Special Master excoriates the BOP for conditions at Dublin, and for the brutality of the transfers. Press coverage and advocacy around the sexual abuse lawsuit and the dysfunctional closure of Dublin contributed to the recent passage of the Federal Prison Oversight Act, which will require regular inspections of all BOP facilities by an outside agency.
This weekend, the Dublin Prison Solidarity Coalition is hosting a historic gathering of Dublin survivors and advocates in the Bay Area. Over 25 recently released survivors of Dublin are traveling from across the U.S. to build community and strategize about how to win change. We will also be hosting a public event and Speak-Out by Dublin survivors about their experiences.
I am making a personal appeal for your support now because this is a crucial time to support Dublin survivors, and a strategic time to push for changes inside the BOP.
Thank you so much for your commitment to fight sexual abuse in women’s prisons.
In solidarity,
Linda Evans