There are survivors who have been victims of sex trafficking but were imprisoned for prostitution. There are survivors of domestic violence who harm their abusers in self-defense and are punished for it. There are survivors whose entry into the criminal justice system is deeply connected to sexual abuse they have experienced in the past. These survivors are criminalized, but deserving of help, justice, and empathy. 

Introducing the Criminalized Survivors Project 

CAASE’s legal team can assist survivors in situations like these. We’re thrilled that over the past year, we have been able to start our Criminalized Survivors Project officially. CAASE’s legal team can provide criminal records relief to survivors of sexual violence, regardless of whether their criminal record was related to their sexual harm. 

What does “criminalized survivor” mean? 

What exactly does “criminalized survivor” mean? The Battered Women’s Justice Project defines criminalized survivors here: “Criminalized survivors are victims whose experiences of being abused are related in some way to their involvement in the criminal legal system. Often, they are arrested and incarcerated for doing what they needed to do to survive and protect their children and loved ones. Criminalized survivors are re-victimized by the very systems that were intended to protect them.” 

Stories like those of Cyntoia Brown-Long, Chrystul Kizer, and  Taylor Cadle, are just a few examples of criminalized survivors whose stories received mainstream coverage. There are countless others here in our own community and beyond whose stories and situations we might never hear, but who have also been criminalized, punished, and deeply harmed by our criminal justice system, instead of helped by it. 

A variety of risk factors can lead someone to have an increased risk of violence and incarceration. Black women are largely overrepresented in this population. The National Black Women’s Justice Institute reports that 84% of Black girls involved in the criminal or juvenile legal system have survived some type of abuse or family violence prior to confinement, a staggering number.  

CAASE’s Legal Director, Elizabeth Payne, explains, “There’s all these women that need this help. Nobody is serving them. We know how difficult it is for women in prison to get resources, that’s the reality. They’re far more underserved than any other community. They’re the most vulnerable.” 

The Abuse to Prison Pipeline 

Survivors who are suffering abuse, harm, and violence, and then being punished instead of receiving help are not outliers in an otherwise working justice system. They are experiencing this system within a cycle that perpetuates itself. It’s often referred to as the “abuse to prison pipeline”. Partner organization Rights4Girls states, “The Abuse to Prison Pipeline is a term used to describe the pathways of gender-based violence that lead girls into the legal system as a direct result of their victimization.” Sexual abuse is one of the key predictors of youth justice involvement. Many of these same youth stay in this pipeline into adulthood. A report from Vera Institute found that 86% of women in jail had survived sexual violence. 

In other words, we know that people who experience abuse go on to exhibit trauma responses that then lead them into our criminal justice system. Not only that, but these survivors are then also more likely to experience future sexual harm, among other challenges that stem from having a criminal record. 

Challenges criminalized survivors face 

Being incarcerated and having a criminal record can create an interwoven web and cycle of difficulties in many areas of a survivor’s life. A criminal record can create challenges when it comes to finding housing, employment, education, voting, parenthood, and more.  

Payne explains some of these challenges that she sees firsthand and navigates with clients, “Access to housing is very limited for people who have a criminal record and employment is also very limited for people who have a criminal record. Those are some of the primary barriers, just being able to have a place to live and financially support yourself and your loved ones. Not to mention substance abuse and treatment. When you exit the carceral system, you may continue to struggle with substance abuse, but any assistance that you got while you were engaged in the carceral system may no longer be present. Getting resources for that is also an issue.” 

CAASE’s legal team navigates these challenges alongside survivors firsthand, providing expert insight and advice about addressing these complications and finding resources to help. 

How CAASE’s legal team is helping criminalized survivors 

While most of our legal services used to be limited to Cook County, we are now working with women who are incarcerated in two women’s prisons downstate. As CAASE met with different partner agencies, we realized there was a real unmet need to assist this population, and CAASE could help fill in a gap. CAASE received funding that enabled our legal team to bring on an attorney focused on criminalized survivors. Evelyn Field, Senior Staff Attorney, Criminalized Survivors Project, has been a huge asset to this project, allowing us to expand our reach beyond Chicago. 

Resentencing petitions and clemency petitions are two of the new pathways CAASE attorneys are able to assist incarcerated survivors with.  

Resentencing petitions 

There is an Illinois law that allows survivors of gender-based violence, or those with postpartum depression, who have been convicted of a crime, to ask the court to reconsider their sentence if those aspects of their lives were related to their conviction. 

Clemency petitions 

Clemency is a process where someone in custody can ask the governor for a reduction in sentence or total reprieve of their sentence.

CAASE attorneys are now also able to assist criminalized survivors who are seeking expungement (erases records of arrests and court cases that did not lead to a conviction), sealing (hides records of arrests and court cases that resulted in a conviction from the general public), and vacatur (effectively undoes a conviction as if the original case had been dropped before a judgment was entered). 

CAASE’s legal team can assist survivors with clearing criminal records. Our attorneys can also provide legal advice about sexual harm (either past or current) and help explain legal options. You can learn more about all of these options here.  

Rare but critical services 

Our team is proud to assist criminalized survivors and bring needed resources to this especially vulnerable population. All survivors are deserving of resources to help them heal, regardless of their criminal record. Incarcerated survivors or survivors with a criminal record are just as deserving of trauma-informed help, resources, and services. Being blocked from assistance only perpetuates the cycles further, for the survivors, and their families.

As legal director Elizabeth Payne says, “There are very few organizations that are providing services in this area and specifically the things that we do. There are very few organizations in the country that do the work that we do, let alone here in Illinois. If you’re incarcerated, your ability to get help and services is really limited. You don’t have access to email, you can’t just pick up the phone— even that is complicated and everything you say is recorded. Much of your correspondence has to go through paper mail. It’s really difficult to get help, and not many institutions are willing to go through the various barriers or jump through the hoops of getting to work with somebody who is incarcerated.”

CAASE and our attorneys are very proud to do this work alongside incarcerated survivors. A criminal record should not prevent anyone from healing or getting help moving forward. Our values state that social and institutional systems do not adequately serve survivors of sexual violation, which harms marginalized communities at the highest rates. This is illustrated very clearly in the cases of so many criminalized survivors. By serving criminalized survivors, we hope to make a change in our current landscape and better support survivors of all identities and backgrounds. 

Contact CAASE and learn more 

If CAASE’s legal services can assist you, please contact us. To learn more about our free legal services or schedule a consultation, please call our legal intake line at 773-244-2230, ext. 205, or email [email protected]. We’re available 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday–Friday. All personal information will be kept confidential. Our Legal Staff speaks Spanish and Portuguese. Translation services are also available in all languages.

More information and resources on criminalized survivors: 

• Criminalized Survivors: Today’s Abuse to Prison Pipeline for Girls from Center on Gender Justice and Opportunity at Georgetown Law 

• Understanding the Needs of Criminalized Survivors by Danielle Malangone at Center for Court Innovation 

• Survived and Punished Quick Statistics 

CAASE published this piece on May 8, 2025. It was authored by Lizzy Springer with input from Elizabeth Payne. Learn more about our staff here.