Rape In Prisons

Rape can be an upsetting, complicated and even taboo topic, but it is a heinous crime that should never be ignored. Rape is a hard subject to talk about, and it’s even more difficult when it happens within the prison system. It’s easy to say that prisoners deserve to pay for their crimes, but prison rape goes beyond punishment and forces many people to question what rights human beings deserve. Prison rape perpetuates a detrimental and dangerous cycle that affects both its victims and the general public when the criminals are released. Prison rape happens for several reasons. Sexual identity, forced homosexuality and hypermasculinity are all coping mechanisms that establish “power dynamics” and “pecking order” in prisons (Haney, 2011,
They are haunted by their experiences in and can be struggling with serious emotional disorders, how can we expect them to function as a sound, law-abiding citizens? The prison environment destroys inmates’ ability to function socially and form healthy relationships (Haney, 2011, p. 140). When released without any support or treatment, they are at a high risk for committing crimes or acts of violence, and even further they may spread any STDs they contracted from their experiences in prison (Jenko, 2010, p. 31). This prison system produces “two pernicious social evils that continue to plague our society- toxic masculinity and persistent racism” (Haney, 2011, p. 139), which creates a population of unstable, racist and/or misogynist individuals. With the current structure its unfair to expect these victims to be anything else, they are victims of prison rape and the whole system around it. The time for taboo is over. Prison rape and the wreckage its leaves in its wake is an issue too big to ignore. Rape is a hard topic to broach, but for the safety of our country’s prisoners and for each one of us who lives in this society, we need to speak up and start making changes. In the end, it’s in everyone’s best