Activists from across the Dallas area recently gathered at Blacklit bookstore in Farmers Branch to celebrate the upcoming release of a film about Dr. Lavinia Masters, an advocate for survivors of sexual assault.
Take No Prisoners: The Lavinia Masters Story, was honored at Empowerment, a local networking event hosted by Brian Reveals Media, It was made by filmmaker Brian Whitlock, the CEO and owner of the media company.
Masters, the honoree of the evening, began her journey to uncompromising advocacy for sexual assault survivors by experiencing that pain herself. Masters was raped at knifepoint in 1985 in Dallas County.
Feeling as though the officers assigned to her case discounted her and her experience, she was subject to secondary trauma, which DX reported on previously in an exclusive interview with Amy Jones, CEO of the Dallas Area Rape Crisis Center.
Masters’ rape kit sat on the Dallas Police Department’s shelf for over 20 years before being processed, exceeding two statutes of limitations. From this experience, Masters began challenging the amount of time rape kits remained unprocessed, becoming a voice for countless survivors who have felt forgotten or minimized by the justice system.
Thanks to Masters’ continued efforts, in 2019, Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law House Bill 8, the Lavinia Masters Act. Authored by Rep. Neave Criado (D-Dallas), the legislation addresses “the criminal statute of limitations for certain sex offenses and the collection, analysis, and preservation of evidence of sexual assault and other sex offenses.”
In 2023, Masters was inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame in recognition of her commitment to advocating for survivors’ rights.
Shakedra Harper, a sexual assault survivor whom the Lavinia Masters Act impacted, spoke at the Empowerment event.
Harper was assaulted as a minor.
“No one had an answer for me. The police didn’t look into [my case]. They didn’t check leads. They did nothing. My case sat there.”
After many years, Harper realized that justice in the traditional sense wasn’t promised, so she made the decision to rebuild her life and help others. She started an inner-city art program, saying to her participants, “If I can survive, you can survive.”
“My life may not have turned out the way I thought … but I’m still touching lives,” she added.
Then, Harper received a phone call from the Dallas Police Department in 2019.
“Due to the Lavinia Masters Act, your kit was one of the kits from the thousands to be selected to be processed,” she was told by the department, which continues to be spread thin by a long-standing staffing shortage.
Two weeks after the phone call, the department got a hit on the DNA and identified a suspect.
Harper said she was assured by the district attorney that he wanted her to testify in the suspect’s trial and that justice would be served.
However, “I received a phone call before the case ever went to trial,” she explained. “The DA pleaded him out [to a lesser charge]. The district attorney just wanted the win.”
Dallas District Attorney John Creuzot, who was first elected in 2018, has been criticized as being soft on crime, earning him the nickname “‘Let-em-go‘ Creuzot.”
Harper’s attacker is in prison, but her testimony is just one of many from sexual assault survivors who have felt the profound impact of indefinitely delayed justice.
“I am grateful for the warriors like Mrs. Masters,” Harper said. “Keep fighting.”
Like Harper, many advocates joined together at the event to share their stories and empower others.
Gwendolyn Jones, the founder and executive director of ARISE! International Inc. was also in attendance at the event. She discussed not only the physical aspect of abuse but also the verbal and visual.
“Our mission is to support and encourage adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. We facilitate faith-based support groups for those who want to begin the recovery process,” explained Jones to DX. “We address the effects of the trauma. We cannot do anything with the past — it happened — but we don’t have to continue to live with the effects of it. And I know this first hand because it is also my story. Healing is a continual process, and we have to do the recovery work.”
Founder and CEO of Purple Light Touch Foundation, Valerie Kelso, addresses emotional, mental, and physical abuse through services such as therapeutic massages and mentoring. Some 80% of her business is provided free of charge. Masters was one of her clients.
“Our mission is to help women and young girls by healing the body through massages,” Kelso told DX. “It is not until you actually touch someone that you feel the brokenness inside their body…. If you don’t heal the body, you’re not going to heal the mind.”
Whitlock addressed the attendees of the event, saying, “We are celebrating each other. All the work that we’ve done. The lives that we’ve touched. The people that we’ve become modeled examples for. That’s what I love about this room,” said Whitlock, looking at the many faces who have and continue to stand up for sexual assault survivors.
Whitlock said, “Take No Prisoners: The Lavinia Masters Story will chronicle Lavinia’s life. It will chronicle the events that made her the woman that she is, and it is a story about healing and resistance against those elements fighting to distract us from our purpose.”
Masters has released her new book this month called I GOT YOU S.I.S.: Strong Indomitable Soror, which encourages unity, encouraging women to “overcome challenges, celebrate victories, and navigate life’s complexities with grace and resilience.”
“The work is so important, and it will continue. It is amazing to see how God has worked through all of this. … I am trying to help others because I couldn’t get the justice that I deserved. I couldn’t do anything for myself, so now I do for others. God does not give us a spirit of fear,” Masters expressed.
The film is scheduled for release on June 1.
Note: This article was updated on March 1, 2024, at 11:59 a.m. to remove some details to protect the privacy of a survivor of sexual assault.
