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By BWSTimes Staff
While serving time for a non-violent offense, Pamela Smith became the victim of rape by a prison staff member.
“I am Pamela Smith, I was raped, assaulted and abused,” she explained to a local news station back in January 2019.
On Saturday afternoon, members of the New Black Panther Party gathered outside the Tulsa County Courthouse to demand justice for Smith. Some members traveled from nearby states.
“Women of color in the state of Oklahoma do not see justice,” Smith told the Tulsa World. “It’s powerful men in high positions and state officials that’s raping and torturing black women. When black women call out for help, our cries fall on deaf ears. They turn a blind eye.”
“When it comes to inmate-on-inmate rape, the Mabel Bassett Correctional Center, a female facility in McCloud, Oklahoma, was the worst in the nation, with a rate of 15.3 percent.
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Incarcerated women and women of color are the forgotten faces of the #MeToo Movement.
In 2003, the US Congress passed the Prison Rape Elimination Act. Sadly, this law went into effect after Smith’s incident. However, it doesn’t negate the fact that she still is a victim of rape and is still owed justice.
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Smith is another women of color, fighting for justice in the shadows of the modern day #MeToo movement.
Her life’s story “Begging for Justice” is now available on Amazon.com
