Marina Garrett
TW: sexual assault
Marina Garrett is our October 2019 Featured Giant. Marina's story is a heart-wrenching look into the human cost of systemic injustice and collective inaction. But Marina's story goes far beyond her trauma: she has been at the forefront of the fight for better laws and a safer Austin for all of us. Check out our full interview with her below!
Jenny Kearney: What did you find most disappointing / shocking when pursuing your case?
Marina Garrett: Where do I even begin? Because I was absolutely shocked and disappointed at every turn. It got to a point that it was like "Really? There are still more ways you can traumatize and mistreat me?" Of course, the DNA lab being shut down just seemed like I was in a dream. How could that be legal? No one being able to tell me if my kit was one of the ones found with mold on it. I can't even count the number of times I called my detective over the two years I waited for my DNA results. Those two years were excruciating, thinking every day would be the day I’d get the call. Every day was the same: anxiety in the morning, disappointment towards the evening as I realized it wouldn't be the day, and complete sadness at night as I knew the same process would begin tomorrow. But the most disappointing thing was the fact that I was told over the phone that no DNA was present and the DA would not be moving forward with my case. How can you tell a survivor something like that over the phone? And then only later finding out through a lawsuit that the DNA never even mattered because he had already identified himself.
JK: What do you wish people knew about the criminal justice process as it relates to sexual assault now that you've been through it? Put another way, what misconceptions do you feel people have that you want to dispel?
MG: I think people really need to understand that most sexual assaults are committed by someone the survivors knows. I feel as though the public thinks survivors are all being raped by strangers and there are these trials they don't hear about, and that these men go to jail, which could not be further from the truth. I mean, rape by strangers doesn’t even go to court. Austin is not the only city with this problem. I know survivors across the nation who deal with the same atrocities that are occurring in Austin. The bottom line is that I think the world wants to pretend that they care about this heinous crime, but turn a blind eye to the judicial process and refuse to talk about it to make themselves feel more comfortable.
JK: What legislation should people be writing to their representatives about?
MG: Well, this legislation session, we actually got an amazing amount of bills and money from the budget set aside for sexual assault survivors. I think calling your representatives and telling them how much you appreciate these bills and would like to continue moving the needle forward next session would be great. You can always check the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault (TAASA)'s website during legislative sessions for what bills are in the works and which they support. Survivor Justice Project also keeps its Facebook up to date with this information. I also highly recommend going to City Council, as they have a lot of power to make change here in the community; for instance, the third party audit of APD.
JK: Where should they be volunteering and donating?
MG: SAFE Alliance is always going to be a big one as it serves the survivors here in Austin, and you can donate or volunteer with them. TAASA on a statewide level is a great place to donate and get involved. Of course there are the national level organizations like RAINN and National Domestic Violence Hotline. Working with Survivor Justice Project is always a great place to volunteer to really understand and get a layout of what's going on locally. I think it’s also important to be donating to shelters in smaller cities as they don't always get the large donations their national counterparts do.