Crime & Law
‘There’s Power in Narrative’: Incarcerated Women Share Their Experiences as Domestic Violence Survivors
Logan Correctional Center pictured in a file photo. (Blair Paddock / WTTW News)
Inside Logan Correctional Center, Jeanine Elam read her poem over Zoom.
“I am a survivor,” Elam said. “Let me say it again. We are survivors. I cast aside all false narratives that domestic violence is only the intertwining of intimate lovers. But dwells in childhood homes and potholed streets. Is there anyone out there right now willing to hear our cries, my cries?”
Elam was part of a group of about 40 incarcerated women who read their poetry Wednesday at the “Live and Alive From Inside” poetry slam, put on by the Women’s Justice Institute.
It’s the second year poets from Cook County Jail and Logan and Decatur correctional centers participated; the women called in via video from their respective facilities. Their work largely focused on the impact gender-based violence has had on them, as Domestic Violence Awareness Month comes to a close.
The event is part of a series from the institute, highlighting the group’s finding that more than 90% of women in prison are survivors of gender-based violence and other forms of abuse. Last week, women inside Logan put on a performance in honor of the month for their annual Look At Me program.
“There’s power in narrative change for the survivor of the abuse to share their truth,” said Deanne Benos, executive director of the Women’s Justice Institute. “Because they’re locked away, their voices don’t have to be locked away and their truths don’t have to be locked away.”
Sandra Brown, director of training and education at the institute, opened the event honoring Katrina Giles, a past participant of the event who died last week. The institute is raising money to build a meditation garden in her memory. Brown read a poem by Giles.
“Startled from the sound of a loud noise, anxiety rise as my hands shake from the pitched voice,” part of the poem read. “Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, I’ve fallen in love with the damage that’s been done. You hold me tight, kiss me right, then raise your hand and want to fight. Abused, accused and suddenly misused, but still I bow down and look like the fool.”
Hearing from those directly impacted by abuse can seed policy change, Benos said. She pointed to the recent successful legislative push to reduce sentences of people who faced gender-based violence.
Over the summer, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill into law that will expand resentencing opportunities for victims of domestic violence, including people who accepted a plea deal.
From Decatur, Roslind Ball read her poem titled “Villain or Victim?”
“When you look up the definition of domestic violence, I’m surprised that you don’t see a picture of my face, seeing as how at the age of 3 years old, that was the title that was given to me,” Ball read. “... But don’t worry, because my time here is coming to an end, I’m back in court, you see, and you can decide whether I was the villain or the victim instead.”
One reason for the correlation between women survivors of gender-based violence and high rates of incarceration is that acts of self-defense are often punished by the criminal justice system, according to the Redefining the Narrative report from the Women’s Justice Institute.
“Women whose lives are threatened by their abusive partners are frequently denied their right to self-defense,” the report said. “In Illinois, even when new legal mechanisms have been created for incarcerated survivors to raise issues of abuse, courts have been reluctant to recognize the full power of these remedies, resulting in the continued convictions and incarceration of survivors even in cases where there is evidence of severe abuse.”
In addition, the report points to Illinois’ “theory of accountability” which allows a person to be charged for a crime another person committed — “the broad interpretation of accountability has resulted in many women receiving harsh sentences for simply being present when a crime is committed, even if refusing to be present would have endangered their lives,” the report stated.
From Logan, Lakeisha Murph and Melinda Graves read their poem together: “We gotta be able to hold each other accountable, expecting nothing but love and the very best, because the violence doesn’t produce none of that, and that’s a fact we can all back.”
To finish the poem, the rest of the room joined in.
“No more V-I-O-L-E-N-C-E, that is what we don’t need,” women said in chorus.
Contact Blair Paddock: @blairpaddock | [email protected]
