Nearly Ten Percent Of Inmates Suffer Sexual Abuse While Incarcerated

[Ma Huang Sor]

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/0...abuse?lite

Nearly one in 10 prisoners suffer sexual abuse while incarcerated in state prisons, local jails and post-release treatment facilities, according to a report published Thursday by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The report, based on the first National Former Prisoners Survey, includes data from 518,800 former prisoners who were on supervised parole in mid-2008.

An estimated 3.7 percent said they were forced or pressured to have nonconsensual sex with another inmate. About 5.3 percent reported an incident that involved facility staff.

The report’s publication coincides with the Justice Department's release of landmark federal standards to protect inmates in all federal, state and local facilities, under the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003.

"For too long, incidents of sexual abuse against incarcerated persons have not been taken as seriously as sexual abuse outside prison walls," the Justice Department said in a statement on the standards. "In popular culture, prison rape is often the subject of jokes; in public discourse, it has been at times dismissed by some as an inevitable — or even deserved — consequence of criminality."

A quarter of those who reported they had suffered unwanted sexual contact at the hands of other inmates said they had been physically held down or restrained and a quarter had been physically harmed or injured. Nearly a quarter (23 percent) reported serious injuries, including anal/vaginal tearing (12 percent), chipped or lost teeth (12 percent), being knocked unconscious (8 percent), internal injuries (6 percent), knife/stab wounds (4 percent) or broken bones (4 percent), according to the survey of former prisoners.

Although any sexual contact between staff and inmates is legally nonconsensual, former prisoners said some incidents were unwilling and some were "willing."

Most victims of staff sexual misconduct reported some type of coercion. Half said they had been offered favors or special privileges and a third said they had been talked into it. Nearly 7 in 8 in this category reported only perpetrators of the opposite sex. More than three-quarters of all reported staff sexual misconduct involved a male inmate with female staff.

The rate of victimization by other inmates was reported by homosexual (39 percent) and bisexual male inmates (34 percent) at rates about 10 times higher than those reported by heterosexual males (3.5 percent).

In other findings, the report said inmates of two or more races (11.3 percent) and black non-Hispanics (6.5 percent) suffered sexual victimization at rates higher than white non-Hispanic inmates (4.5 percent) and Hispanic inmates (4 percent).

The survey was part of the Bureau of Justice Statistics National Prison Rape Statistics Program, which has collected administrative records of reported sexual violence or allegations of sexual victimization directly from victims since 2004.

The new standards require an array of measures to prevent and handle sexual abuse involving prisoners, including additional staff training, grievance reporting systems, increased staff and video monitoring, prompt medical and psychological attention for victims, and disciplinary actions for staff or inmate perpetrators.

"The standards we establish today reflect the fact that sexual assault crimes committed within our correctional facilities can have devastating consequences — for individual victims and for communities far beyond our jails and prisons," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.

The standards will go into effect for federal facilities in 60 days. States that do not comply or demonstrate that they are working toward complying with the standards face the loss of relevant federal funds.

In drafting the standards, the Justice Department was prohibited from placing an undue financial burden on the states. It collected public comment, and haggled with officials from states, a wide array of advocacy groups and other stakeholders, a department official said, explaining why the standards were instituted nine years after the law was passed.

"These standards are the result of a thoughtful and deliberative process — and represent a critical step forward in protecting the rights and safety of all Americans," Holder said.

[Lady Cop]

the mantra of corrections is "care, custody and control". and jails as well as prisons don't condone rape or any so-called sexual contact. whether it's inmates, officers, anyone. there are severe sanctions for officers who do that shit, and an inmate who is charged with rape will go to trial for it.
but the reality is there are some bad nasty people in prisons they rape. it's power and it's hierarchy. it's never going to stop. officers can't watch every single inmate every single minute. not happening, impossible.

it's a common joke to wish it upon heinous criminals.

[FAHQTOO]

I'm shocked it's only 10%.

[Lady Cop]

I'm shocked it's only 10%.

because with the females sex is mostly consensual, they do it for different reasons. "love".

with some men it's consensual. boredom. temporary homosexuality for duration of sentence. being someone's bitch for protection. or plain old power violence.

violent rape isn't the prevalent thing people think from movies and the usual big bubba jokes.

ANY sex between staff and inmate is deemed involuntary since it's someone in a position of authority. that staff gets very tough sanctions.

[aussiefriend]

long hard investigation.

[Sterling]

I'm shocked it's only 10%.

temporary homosexuality for duration of sentence.

Wow! Temporary, huh? "I only fag when I'm in the stew. Really, Lavonne, I'm NOT gay!" That kinda screws the pooch for "Born this Ga . . . uh . . . Way."

[shitstorm]

I think the prison system sounds like a fucking nightmare. I don't think this shit goes ion in places like Norway. The US could look at better models but I don't think there's any interest. When a prisoner has done something really horrible, it's understandable that people feel they're getting what they deserve with violence in prison, but that doesn't make it right. The punishment is doing time, not getting raped or stabbed or beaten up. That's torture. I think about people who are perfectly peaceful who get sent to prison for things like weed and I shudder.

That article quotes Eric Holder talking about 'standards'. That mutherfucker should be in prison for conspiracy to run guns across international borders and as an accessory to murder. That he is allowed to walk free, sucking off the tax payer, makes me ill.

[FAHQTOO]

I think the prison system sounds like a fucking nightmare. I don't think this shit goes ion in places like Norway. The US could look at better models but I don't think there's any interest. When a prisoner has done something really horrible, it's understandable that people feel they're getting what they deserve with violence in prison, but that doesn't make it right. The punishment is doing time, not getting raped or stabbed or beaten up. That's torture. I think about people who are perfectly peaceful who get sent to prison for things like weed and I shudder.

That article quotes Eric Holder talking about 'standards'. That mutherfucker should be in prison for conspiracy to run guns across international borders and as an accessory to murder. That he is allowed to walk free, sucking off the tax payer, makes me ill.

I agree with a lot of that , but I don't mind hearing of a prisoner who is convicted of a crime against a child, gets his/her ass beat TO DEATH in prison...yeah, I'm good with that!

[shitstorm]

I think the prison system sounds like a fucking nightmare. I don't think this shit goes ion in places like Norway. The US could look at better models but I don't think there's any interest. When a prisoner has done something really horrible, it's understandable that people feel they're getting what they deserve with violence in prison, but that doesn't make it right. The punishment is doing time, not getting raped or stabbed or beaten up. That's torture. I think about people who are perfectly peaceful who get sent to prison for things like weed and I shudder.

That article quotes Eric Holder talking about 'standards'. That mutherfucker should be in prison for conspiracy to run guns across international borders and as an accessory to murder. That he is allowed to walk free, sucking off the tax payer, makes me ill.

I agree with a lot of that , but I don't mind hearing of a prisoner who is convicted of a crime against a child, gets his/her ass beat TO DEATH in prison...yeah, I'm good with that!

I understand that but if the environment is such that that can happen, it can happen to anyone, including someone in there for a non violent, victimless 'crime'.

[Lady Cop]

this makes me think back to the 'good old days' and the 'good old boys'. not surprising it's Alabama.
it stinks.
and i also know female inmates TRY to work male guards for favors etc. but no officer should lower himself.

--------------------------------------------


(CNN) -- Male guards at an Alabama women's prison engaged in the widespread sexual abuse of female inmates for years, a nonprofit group alleged in a formal complaint filed with the Justice Department on Tuesday.

The Equal Justice Initiative asked the Justice Department to investigate alleged incidents occurring between 2009 and 2011 at the Tutwiler Prison for Women in Wetumpka, Alabama. The federal agency confirmed that it received the complaint though declined further comment.

"In interviews with more than 50 women incarcerated at Tutwiler, EJI uncovered evidence of frequent and severe officer-on-inmate sexual violence," the Montgomery-based group said in a statement.

"This troubling cycle of abuse and lack of accountability has established a widespread pattern and practice of custodial sexual misconduct," said Bryan Stevenson, the group's executive director.

Stevenson also blamed the Alabama Department of Corrections for under-reporting the alleged attacks, which the group says include rapes, and for responding inadequately.

The group claims that more than "20 Tutwiler employees have been transferred or terminated in the past five years for having illegal sexual contact with prisoners."

"It's an ongoing thing, a daily thing," said Stefanie Hibbett, 31, a former Tutwiler inmate. "You see women raped and beaten, and nothing is ever done."

Hibbett said she was the victim of sexual assault in November 2010. She said she told the prison's warden about the assault, but no charges were ever filed against the prison guard she says attacked her. An Alabama judge dismissed a civil suit she filed in the case in August.

Several imprisoned women also allegedly became pregnant after being raped by guards, giving birth while in custody, the nonprofit group reported.

CNN cannot independently confirm that account. The Alabama attorney general's office referred questions to the Alabama Department of Corrections, which did not immediately return a call for comment.

A 2007 Justice Department report found that Tutwiler maintained the highest rate of sexual assault among prisons for women and 11^th overall of those evaluated across the United States.

[pspence]

Most men in prison don't think they are gay at all if they are the ones doing the "penetrating". While working in this area, I found it interesting how many men if you asked, "are you gay?", they'll say "no", but if you ask "do you have sex with men?", they'll reply "yes". We had to change the wording on a screening questionnaire application thing because of that for data

i also didn't realize that many gay men are only "the top" and many "only bottoms". We once had a funny client that was telling us he had just pierced his penis and another guy said "that must be a pain to have to remove it every time u have sex" and the guy replied "oh honey, I'm only a receiver.". Oh well... That was probably way too much information.