{"id":462133,"date":"2022-01-08T16:03:26","date_gmt":"2022-01-08T16:03:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/radiofree.asia\/?guid=f5262f2c80e29428fe62896d78139ee4"},"modified":"2022-01-08T16:03:26","modified_gmt":"2022-01-08T16:03:26","slug":"black-sexual-violence-survivors-are-telling-their-stories-only-to-be-punished","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2022\/01\/08\/black-sexual-violence-survivors-are-telling-their-stories-only-to-be-punished\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Sexual Violence Survivors Are Telling Their Stories \u2014 Only to Be Punished"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Illustration<\/a>

On December 15, 2021, 10 days before Christmas, DeBraca Harris sat in a Chicago, Illinois, courtroom to learn whether the legal system would recognize the sexual violence she had endured and allow her to reunite with her family before 2036.<\/p>\n

In 2005, Harris was a 26-year-old Black mother with four children under the age of 7. She was also pregnant with her fifth.<\/p>\n

Her boyfriend, Willie Collins, was extremely abusive. His violence included beatings, strangulations, dragging her by her hair and threatening her with guns. He assaulted her in front of others, including her family members and his own mother. His violence increased when rent or bills were due. \u201cThese were the times that I was the most frightened about what he might do,\u201d Harris described in a later affidavit.<\/p>\n

Harris had attempted to leave Collins, moving to Atlanta, Georgia, to start a new life while pregnant. But Collins made Harris feel guilty about separating him from his newborn, and she agreed to return to Chicago. The violence continued.<\/p>\n

In 2005, the family moved to a house owned by a man named Tracy Jones. Harris paid the first month\u2019s rent. When she could not pay the second month, Jones told her he would not evict them if she had sex with him. \u201cI did not want to do this, but at the same time, I wanted to put a roof over my kids\u2019 head[s],\u201d Harris stated in her affidavit. \u201cI was also scared about what Willie might do if we were evicted because he was always the most violent with me when we couldn\u2019t pay rent or bills. So I agreed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sex was rough, painful and humiliating,\u201d Harris recalled in her affidavit. \u201cI frequently bled and would be swollen afterwards. This happened multiple times throughout my pregnancy. Sometimes, I would cry or beg Mr. Jones to stop being so rough, but he did not seem to care.\u201d<\/p>\n

When she tried to stop their arrangement, Jones threatened to tell Collins that she was having an affair. Terrified, she continued.<\/p>\n

After giving birth, Harris refused to continue. Jones began eviction proceedings. In June 2006, Harris was packing the family\u2019s belongings when Jones arrived. Collins had taken the other children to his mother\u2019s house, leaving only their 7-month-old son. Jones told Harris that he would stop the eviction if she went with him. \u201cI definitely was not going to have sex with him,\u201d Harris later stated. \u201cBut I thought maybe I could talk him into not evicting us.\u201d<\/p>\n

They drove their separate cars to an alley several blocks away. There, Jones called Harris into his car. She unstrapped her infant from her car and brought him. He demanded that she have sex with him. When she refused, he attempted to force her. Harris pulled away, grabbed her son and left his car.<\/p>\n

Jones called her over again and Harris went, hoping to plead for a few extra days before eviction. This time, she brought her son\u2019s diaper bag, which held Collins\u2019s gun, for protection. When she refused to get into his car, he grabbed her by the shirt and punched her. Harris shot and killed him.<\/p>\n

\"DeBraca
DeBraca Harris at Logan Correctional Center in 2018.<\/figcaption>
Courtesy of DeBraca Harris<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Harris was arrested later that day. After speaking with police, she collapsed on the floor of the precinct and was revived by paramedics. She was transferred to the Cook County Jail, where she remained for nearly six years. She attempted suicide twice \u2014 once soon after her arrest and again in 2010. Her children, ranging in age from 7 weeks to 8 years old, were separated. The three youngest were raised by Collins\u2019s mother; the oldest moved to Indiana with his paternal grandparents, and the second-oldest to Atlanta with Harris\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n

She was charged with first-degree murder with a firearm enhancement. If convicted, she faced a minimum sentence of 45 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt alone, judged, lost and scared as hell,\u201d Harris told Truthout<\/em>. \u201cWhen my public defender came to see me, as hesitant as I was of this man, I told him my story. All the gruesome details of what I had endured and how emotionally imbalanced I was, and nothing came of it. What did he do with all the notes he was taking? Did he care? Did he believe me?\u201d<\/p>\n