The Detroit Free Press recently did a special report about sexual violence in Michigan women’s prisons and highlighted Toni Bunton’s story.
Bunton was convicted for her role in a 1991 drug shooting and during her time in prison she was subjected to sexual assaults at Scott Correctional Facility in Plymouth. Bunton said: “People don’t know what goes on inside prison. I want people to know this is going on in your backyard, and you might not care because it might not affect you, but you should care. This is not really about sexual harassment. This is about civil rights, basic fundamental rights of human beings.”

For years, rights groups warned that male guards were sexually assaulting female inmates in Michigan prisons. For years, those warnings went unheeded. Now, state taxpayers may pay a price too. More than 500 women are suing. They stand to collect $50 million so far, with more trials to come. This is their story: