Prison Rape

Prison Rape is no secret in today’s society. The American media has portrayed prison rape as a joke (Don’t drop the soap) in countless films, television shows, and in music, but have not realized the extent of how dangerous this crime is. Some cops even use this method as a means to get a confession from a suspect. A major obstacle in solving Prison rape is the notorious under-reporting of the crime. Only 16 percent of prison rape victims report their victimization. Reasons for under reporting are fear of consequences, shame, guilt, embarrassment, and refuse to relive painful details. This paper explores prison rape and its psychological and physical harm to not only inmates, but to society as well. It also discusses recent efforts to put a stop to prison rape, such as the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 and The National Prison Rape Elimination Commission (NPREC) as well as organizations such as Just Detention International (JDI). Prison Rape is known as sexual intercourse through use of force, intimidation, and threats within prisons. Overcrowding and insufficient staffing are key contributors to prison rape. Most targets of prison sexual assault are young, small, non-violent, first-time offenders. A study of four mid-western states found that 1 in 5 inmates experience some form of pressure or coerced sexual contact while incarcerated. In most cases inmates sexually abuse other inmates. There are also less common cases where correction officers abuse inmates. Americans today tend to believe that this is much more prevalent in female prisons, however there is evidence that women are indeed raped by other female inmates as well and it can cause long term injuries. In a study pertaining to three Mid-western female prisons, 27 percent of the inmate population confessed to being sexually coerced. Although it is no secret male correction officers are sexually abusing female inmates, little to nothing has been done to reduce the male officer rate in female