Incarcerated Survivors Fight for Reproductive Justice in Florida and Win

Content Warning: sexual assault

The prison system in Florida has a problem when it comes to sexual assault. Incarcerated survivors of sexual abuse by staff who try to report it are routinely not believed, face retribution by others who work there, and are punitively placed in harsh conditions in solitary confinement while an investigation that can take weeks or months is pending.

The Department of Justice found that sexual abuse at this prison was widespread.

If prison officials decide that a report lacks merit (as is often the case), they can impose disciplinary sanctions, loss of early release time credits, and extend one’s release date. Survivors also face an investigation process that fails to gather evidence, leaves cases indefinitely open with no findings, and provides little to no accountability for those who do harm.

These problems were explained in a recent U.S. Department of Justice Report that concluded that staff and leadership at Florida's largest women’s prison, Lowell Correctional Institution, failed to protect incarcerated people from rampant staff sexual abuse, rape, and retaliation. (The prison houses more than 2,400 women on any given day.) The DOJ found that sexual abuse at the prison was widespread, the Department of Corrections’ investigation process was inadequate to prevent and respond to the harm, and prison officials and guards retaliated against people who tried to report it.

Who would want to even try to report sexual abuse when this is the response?

The women incarcerated at Lowell know these things to be true. For years, they survived and tried to report sexual abuse by the only gynecologist on staff at the prison that they could see. They were forced to choose between critical medical care or sexual abuse. Survivors of this doctor’s abuse filed grievances, made reports, told medical and security staff, participated in investigations, and refused to see the doctor who was abusing them.

Although the medical care company overseeing the care, Centurion of Florida, received and reviewed report after report about this abuse, starting in at least 2018, it did nothing to stop it.  Many women were afraid and refused to seek care even when they had serious medical needs. They felt no one believed them or would do anything to stop it.

The sexual abuse finally ended when five brave women took an even greater risk and came forward to put their names on a very public federal court complaint, Anderson, et al. v. Centurion, et al. (M.D. Fla.) The survivors consistently and painfully recounted how the doctor fondled their breasts and genitals, forcefully penetrated them with fingers and objects, touched them in sexualized ways, and used sexually inappropriate or abusive language. Patients were uncomfortably required to undress while he was in the exam room. Patients complained and reported it to the prison. They asked to see another provider. They cried through exams. Their cries for help, for years, went unanswered.

Although the prison system investigated some of these reports, none resulted in any corrective action. Similar to the DOJ’s findings, the federal court in Anderson v. Centurion found there was sufficient evidence that the investigations about the doctor were “not reliable.”

While many at the prison were impacted, most were afraid to come forward or even have their names associated with the lawsuit. They feared retribution by prison or medical staff they depend on for every aspect of their lives. We have immense respect for the many survivors who faced that fear and, through tears, sat with us to tell their stories – often for the first time. We see you and believe you.

After the lawsuit was filed in February 2024, the medical care company put the doctor on paid leave. Within months, he resigned. The plaintiffs considered that a victory, but they did not stop there. They wanted to make sure that no one would be abused in this way again and that people could get essential reproductive health care.

After three years of investigation and litigation by attorneys representing the survivors, rather than go to trial, the parties agreed to a final judgment of $100,000 split between the five plaintiffs. Thanks to the courage of these survivors who chose to fight back against long odds and at great personal risk, thousands of women at Lowell CI can now safely get the reproductive health care they need, and see a female provider if they wish.

We know from years of impact litigation challenging violations of incarcerated people’s civil rights that these cases are complicated, expensive, and difficult to find funding for. The grant that we received from The Impact Fund was critical to make this case, and this victory, possible. 

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Production Credits:

Author: Andrea Costello

Web Producer: John Henry Frankel

Web Editor: Teddy Basham-Witherington