March 13, 2024
Dawn Wooten To Be Awarded the Ridenhour Truth-Telling Prize
WASHINGTON – Dawn Wooten will be awarded the Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling, which is annually presented to a citizen, corporate or government whistleblower, investigative journalist, or organization for bringing a specific issue of social importance to the public’s attention.
Ms. Wooten was a nurse at the Irwin County Detention Center (ICDC), where she witnessed and spoke out against medical misconduct and critical failures at the ICE-contracted facility to protect immigrants in detention and workers from COVID-19. Ms. Wooten also disclosed that detained women were undergoing invasive gynecological procedures, including hysterectomies, without informed consent. These explosive revelations incited passionate calls for reform from immigration justice organizations, medical professionals, and members of Congress. The impact of Ms. Wooten’s disclosures was profound: 57 victims with allegations of medical mistreatment at ICDC came forward and are currently seeking justice through a class-action lawsuit, and multiple investigations were launched by Congress, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, and the Department of Justice.
In May 2021, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas ordered ICE to sever its contract with ICDC, ending all immigrant detention at the facility by September 2021. Ms. Wooten’s disclosures of medical mistreatment of women have been verified not only by the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee’s bipartisan Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, but also by ICE’s own records and independent medical experts.
However, Ms. Wooten’s truth-telling was met with retaliation: she was demoted to an on-call nursing position and never called again. She became radioactive as “the whistleblower” in her local community and was denied hundreds of nursing positions amidst nationwide medical staffing shortages. These and other acts of retaliation aim to chill and silence reports of unconscionable abuses that, but for her whistleblowing, would still be ongoing.
In conferring Ms. Wooten with the Ridenhour Truth-Telling Prize, the selection committee cited “the extraordinary courage, tenacity, and integrity that you demonstrated in exposing the inadequate and inappropriate medical care, unsafe working and living conditions, and the failed protections for both immigrants and employees at the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia.”
The annual Ridenhour Prizes, now in their 20th year, recognize those who persevere in acts of truth-telling that protect the public interest, promote social justice, or illuminate a more just vision of society. These prizes memorialize the spirit of fearless truth-telling that Ron Ridenhour, the My Lai massacre whistleblower and George Polk award-winning investigative reporter, reflected throughout his extraordinary life and career.
Dawn will be given the Ridenhour Truth-Telling Prize on March 28, 2024 at the 20th Annual Ridenhour Prizes Gala at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC.
Contact: Charlotte McCann, Ridenhour Prize Event Coordinator
Phone: (202) 926-3323
Email: [email protected]
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