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Plan to end rampant sex abuse in U.S. prisons
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States must adopt new measures to reduce sexual violence in correctional
and detention facilities nationwide, or risk losing federal funding for prisons,
according to a report released Tuesday. Here, A cell sits empty after the
closing ceremony of Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Petros, Tenn.
(AP Photo/Wade Payne)
States must adopt new measures to reduce the 60,000 annual cases of sexual violence in correctional and detention facilities nationwide, or risk losing federal funding for prisons, according to a report released Tuesday.
The report, issued by the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission, took five years to compile, and recommends that jails and prisons institute measures to reduce institutional rapes, including adoption of zero tolerance policies, improved staff training, and better screening to identify potential abuse victims among the prison population.
All prisoners are entitled to "basic human rights," said U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, chairman of the commission. "Just because they've committed a crime and they're incarcerated does not mean that their human dignity can be abused."
The recommendations now go to Attorney General Eric Holder, who will have one year to craft a new set of national standards. States will then be informed of the revised standards and given one year to attain full compliance. States that fail to comply may lose 5 percent of any federal prison grant money.
Among the report's main conclusions were that: Short, young, gay, or female inmates were more likely to face sexual assault than other inmates; Jail inmates reported fewer instances of rape than did prison inmates; and Abuse rates vary by location--ten institutions in the study showed unusually high rates, between 9 percent and almost 16 percent, while six institutions reported no abuse at all for the past year. The facilities or locations were not disclosed.
The commission closed by calling on prison management to show leadership in preventing sexual abuse. The report also suggested that prison officials install more internal monitoring devices, such as video cameras, in addition to external oversight by review boards.
For more info: National Prison Rape Elimination Commission
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