Travis County District Attorney’s Office Unveils the Remembrance Space that Honors the Courage of Sexual Assault Survivors and Symbolizes Their Fight for Criminal Justice Reforms
Travis County, TX — Today, Travis County District Attorney José Garza hosted an event to unveil the Remembrance Space titled “Rise Above:: Stand Strong” honoring the courage of sexual assault survivors and their relentless pursuit of justice. The Remembrance Space pays tribute to the fourteen plaintiffs who sued Travis County, demanding that sexual assault survivors be respected and believed. Their courageous advocacy inspired a movement to reform the local criminal justice system. Although the plaintiffs’ lawsuit was settled in 2021, the Remembrance Space serves as a permanent reminder to everyone in our criminal justice system to pursue justice for all survivors of sexual assault.
During the event, lawsuit plaintiffs, sexual assault survivors, advocates, and their allies joined members of our TCDA Leadership team and Special Victims Division, and Remembrance Space artist Dianne Sonnenberg, with the support of our county, city, and law enforcement leaders, to unveil the large mosaic permanently installed in the Ronald Earle Building, located at 416 West 11th Street, Austin, Texas 78701. The mosaic measures approximately 3 ft x 5 ft and is created from stained glass, fused glass, recycled glass tile, Italian Millefiori, and 24k gold tile.
“This remembrance art piece is not merely a symbol. It is a testament to the unwavering courage of sexual assault survivors,” said Sexual Assault Community Advisory Board Member and Lawsuit Plaintiff Hanna Senko. “It is a reminder of what sexual assault survivors face, go through, and endure in our society, whether they choose to report or not. And it is a signal to us advocates, allies, and city and county servants of who and what we are fighting for, day in and day out.”
“Including the community in the creation of this Remembrance artwork has made it a much more meaningful project,” said Remembrance Space Artist Dianne Sonnenberg. “This was an important criteria that both the plaintiffs and Travis County requested. As an indigenous woman artist with experience working with community groups, I am honored to have been selected to create this important work of art.”
“The permanent Remembrance Space stands as a tribute to the courage and resilience of survivors who have bravely fought to reform our broken criminal justice system,” Travis County District Attorney José Garza. “The plaintiff’s lawsuit was settled in 2021, but the work to improve how the criminal legal system treats survivors of sexual assault is far from finished. Because of their courage we are continuing to build a criminal justice system where survivors are treated with dignity and respect.”
Background
In June 2021, Travis County settled a landmark suit filed by a group of sexual assault survivors against former Travis County District Attorneys Rosemary Lehmberg and Margaret Moore, the Austin Police Department Chiefs Art Acevedo and Brian Manley, the City of Austin, Travis County, and other local government officials. These survivors alleged that there were failures in the handling of sexual assault investigations and prosecutions between 2006 and 2019. Subsequently, in January 2022, the City of Austin settled its lawsuit with the sexual assault survivors.
The county’s settlement committed the Travis County District Attorney’s Office, under the leadership of newly elected District Attorney José Garza, to undertake a series of significant reforms and policy changes to improve the treatment of sexual assault survivors within the criminal justice system.
The reforms included the formation of the Sexual Assault Community Advisory Board. In March 2022, Travis County DA José Garza announced the advisory board members, which include survivors, community advocates, and experts who provide oversight on the implementation of the settlement within the District Attorney’s office and other victim policies.
To date, the District Attorney has increased the number of sex assault convictions secured by our office, established significant policy changes, increased staffing and resources for victims, and enhanced training for our staff to ensure that victims who interact with the criminal justice system are treated with dignity and respect.
One condition of the settlement agreement was the “creation of a physical space or other visible honor/remembrance for Plaintiffs and other sexual assault survivors within the Travis County District Attorney’s Office.”
In November 2022, Travis County District Attorney José Garza and the Sexual Assault Community Advisory Board announced that they sought to commission an artist or artist team to work with survivors of sexual assault and other community advocates to create an art piece honoring survivors of sexual assault.
The proposals were evaluated by a committee of TCDA staff, sexual assault survivors, and community advocates at the beginning of 2023.
In February 2023, the Travis County District Attorney’s Office and Sexual Assault Community Advisory Board Members selected mosaic artist Dianne Sonnenberg to create the Remembrance Space.
In January 2024, Travis County DA José Garza hosted an event for the community to contribute to the creation of the Remembrance Space. During the interactive event, sexual assault survivors, advocates, and their allies worked with artist Dianne Sonnenberg to design their own mosaic, which was incorporated into the final Remembrance Space art piece.
###