Rape Factories

[Cail]

Why is the government doing so little to end sexual assault in prisons?

In 1984 the photographer Tom Cahill smashed a plate-glass door in a fit of fury at the San Francisco Chronicle. He had just unsuccessfully attempted to get the paper’s reporters to write about rape in America’s jails and prisons. Cahill was a desperate man at the time, tormented by flashbacks and nightmares, his personal and professional life in ruins.

Cahill’s story began in 1968, when he was arrested in Texas during a peaceful antiwar protest. An Air Force vet who opposed the Vietnam War, he did not prove popular among jail staff in the heavily military town of San Antonio. Before placing him in an overcrowded communal cell, he says, the guards spread word that he was a child molester. Cahill remembers with a shudder how one of the staff members shouted “fresh meat” before leaving. After 24 hours of beatings and gang rape, his life was shattered.

More than four decades later, sexual violence behind bars is still widespread in the United States. But thanks to Cahill and other courageous survivors, the ongoing crisis is no longer shrouded in silence.

The U.S. Department of Justice recently released its first-ever estimate of the number of inmates who are sexually abused in America each year. According to the department’s data, which are based on nationwide surveys of prison and jail inmates as well as young people in juvenile detention centers, at least 216,600 inmates were victimized in 2008 alone. Contrary to popular belief, most of the perpetrators were not other prisoners but staff members—corrections officials whose job it is to keep inmates safe. On average, each victim was abused between three and five times over the course of the year. The vast majority were too fearful of reprisals to seek help or file a formal complaint.

Sexual violence is not an inevitable part of prison life. On the contrary, it is highly preventable. Corrections officials who are committed to running safe facilities train their staff thoroughly. They make sure that inmates who are especially vulnerable to abuse—such as small, mentally ill, and gay or transgender detainees—are not housed with likely perpetrators. And they hold those who commit sexual assaults accountable, even if they are colleagues.

But many corrections administrators are reluctant to make sexual abuse prevention a top priority, preferring to maintain the status quo rather than acknowledge the role their own employees play. Others are actually fighting reform efforts, claiming, in spite of the evidence, that sexual violence is rare.

This resistance is reflected in the slow implementation of the Prison Rape Elimination Act, which Congress unanimously passed in 2003. The law mandated binding national standards to help end sexual abuse in detention. But almost eight years later, the Justice Department has yet to promulgate final standards.

Attorney General Eric Holder has not shown leadership on this issue. In 2009 Holder essentially rejected standards recommended by a bipartisan commission that spent years studying the problem of prisoner rape, claiming that the recommendations—which included limits on cross-gender supervision and the loosening of deadlines for survivors to file formal grievances—would have been too expensive.

It’s easy to feel numbed by the Justice Department’s estimate that almost 600 prisoners are sexually victimized each day. But behind that number are real people like Jan Lastocy. While serving time for attempted embezzlement in a Michigan prison in 1998, Lastocy was raped. Not once, not twice, but several times a week for seven months. The rapist was an officer who supervised her at a prison warehouse. Lastocy was so afraid of him that she did not even dare to tell her husband of 30 years, John, what was going on. Later John said, “Jan did a stupid thing, and she went to prison for it. But no one should have to pay the price that she did.”

Jan and John Lastocy’s lives were devastated by prisoner rape. Holder should listen to and learn from them rather than bowing to corrections officials trying to maintain the status quo.

I'm all about punishing people for crimes, but not at the expense of their basic human rights. It's freaking deplorable the way people are treated in prison by those charged to ward them.

[sgt.null]

prison rape does happen. but the statistics are like any other set of statistics. it all depends on methodology. are these proven rapes?

in Texas inamtes claim many things and for many reasons. the numbers are inflated because some inmates are claiming rape to gain movement. if they don't like their unit it is a good way to move.

we train our officers, our staff, our inmates to report. if an inmate is raped or feels it may happen there are many ways to report it. I-60 (a piece of paper mailed), report it to an officer, medical, psych, chaplain, family member, volunteer.

and i will also call bullshit on the claim that most rapes are by staff. many times an inmate enters a consensual sexual situation with a staff member - only to cry rape when found out. of course any staff having sex with an inmate should be arrested and sent to prison themselves.

as to methodology that i mentioned. in texas prisons, any sex is considered sexual assault. ie : i find two inmates having sex - they are being written up. and the agressor will get the rape case - if the recipient goes along with the report. and signing off on the case is easier for the "victim."

many inmates enter sexual congress with another inmate for many reasons. protection, money, love, sex, connection, food, etc. for many /all the same reasons we have sex in the free world. yes, there is rape and it is deplorable. but take something away from people and they will find it where they can get it.

i would like a report about inmate sexual assault on staff. include the numerous masturbation cases every week we get to write up. why not a great outcry about the horrible thing sthat inmates do to the staff? that's right - someone is advocating inmates as victims. count out the simple violence inmates visit upon staff. the chunking cases. let's see that report.

[Avatar]

I'm all about punishing people for crimes, but not at the expense of their basic human rights. It's freaking deplorable the way people are treated in prison by those charged to ward them.

Agreed. Hell, we know a guy whose wife laid a false domestic abuse charge against him, he spent the weekend in jail, and when they let him out on Monday, he was HIV+.

Thing is, I'm not sure that much can be done about it. The jails are overcrowded and underfunded. How do we prevent it?

--A

[sgt.null]

Thing is, I'm not sure that much can be done about it. The jails are overcrowded and underfunded. How do we prevent it? --A

education. you tell the inmates to reach out to staff. you make it easy for them to. you constantly hammer that point home to them in their orientation.

on staff part - we know the likely victim profile. so first step is intake. matching them to a unit then a cell that is best fit for them.

likely profile is young, small framed, first time inmate.

then you have staff trained on who and what to look for.

better pay would help - but i have intervened and i don't usually work on the wings. so try keeping your dedicated staff.

and fear works with staff. prosecute any staff who knows something is/has happened and point that out to the rest of us. if tdcj prosecuted the bad apples, many more would fall into line.

[Loredoctor]

I'm all about punishing people for crimes, but not at the expense of their basic human rights. It's freaking deplorable the way people are treated in prison by those charged to ward them.

Not the case in Australian prisons.

[Cail]

I'm all about punishing people for crimes, but not at the expense of their basic human rights. It's freaking deplorable the way people are treated in prison by those charged to ward them.

Agreed. Hell, we know a guy whose wife laid a false domestic abuse charge against him, he spent the weekend in jail, and when they let him out on Monday, he was HIV+.

Thing is, I'm not sure that much can be done about it. The jails are overcrowded and underfunded. How do we prevent it?

--A

First, you start with prosecuting the rapists. It's no secret that prison guards are generally failed LEOs, and that intimidation works awfully well at keeping people quiet.

[Rawedge Rim]

I'm all about punishing people for crimes, but not at the expense of their basic human rights. It's freaking deplorable the way people are treated in prison by those charged to ward them.

Agreed. Hell, we know a guy whose wife laid a false domestic abuse charge against him, he spent the weekend in jail, and when they let him out on Monday, he was HIV+.

Thing is, I'm not sure that much can be done about it. The jails are overcrowded and underfunded. How do we prevent it?

--A

First, you start with prosecuting the rapists. It's no secret that prison guards are generally failed LEOs, and that intimidation works awfully well at keeping people quiet.

"Hey Bubba, if you don't stop buggering other inmates, we're gonna have to tack on another life sentence to the others you already have!"

[Cail]

Agreed. Hell, we know a guy whose wife laid a false domestic abuse charge against him, he spent the weekend in jail, and when they let him out on Monday, he was HIV+.

Thing is, I'm not sure that much can be done about it. The jails are overcrowded and underfunded. How do we prevent it?

--A

First, you start with prosecuting the rapists. It's no secret that prison guards are generally failed LEOs, and that intimidation works awfully well at keeping people quiet.

"Hey Bubba, if you don't stop buggering other inmates, we're gonna have to tack on another life sentence to the others you already have!"

I was speaking specifically about the rapist guards and prison employees.

[Rawedge Rim]

First, you start with prosecuting the rapists. It's no secret that prison guards are generally failed LEOs, and that intimidation works awfully well at keeping people quiet.

"Hey Bubba, if you don't stop buggering other inmates, we're gonna have to tack on another life sentence to the others you already have!"

I was speaking specifically about the rapist guards and prison employees.

OK, let's say you eliminate sexual assualt by non-inmates. What do you do about those who are incarcerated and committing sexual assualt?

[Cail]

"Hey Bubba, if you don't stop buggering other inmates, we're gonna have to tack on another life sentence to the others you already have!"

I was speaking specifically about the rapist guards and prison employees.

OK, let's say you eliminate sexual assualt by non-inmates. What do you do about those who are incarcerated and committing sexual assualt?

Dunno, I never claimed to have the answer. Chemical castration maybe?

[Rawedge Rim]

I was speaking specifically about the rapist guards and prison employees.

OK, let's say you eliminate sexual assualt by non-inmates. What do you do about those who are incarcerated and committing sexual assualt?

Dunno, I never claimed to have the answer. Chemical castration maybe?

How about we lock them up in a 4X6 room and let them out for one hour on alternate leap years.

[SerScot]

RR,

OK, let's say you eliminate sexual assualt by non-inmates. What do you do about those who are incarcerated and committing sexual assualt?

Dunno, I never claimed to have the answer. Chemical castration maybe?

How about we lock them up in a 4X6 room and let them out for one hour on alternate leap years.

Particularly those horrible people who are locked up for having the temerity to possess a couple of grams of a substance society has deemed illegal. Those people ought to be locked under the jail.

[Vraith]

Particularly those horrible people who are locked up for having the temerity to possess a couple of grams of a substance society has deemed illegal. Those people ought to be locked under the jail.

Yea, I was gonna say something about that...about 1/2 of all prisoners are in for non-violent offences, about 1/2 of THOSE are for drug offenses [so about @25%, overall]

Indirectly, it kinda makes a mess out of "prison prevents crime" since drug convictions have gone up way over 1000%, and drug use is hardly changed at all [it was down 5 or 6% for a while...now it seems to be creeping up again, depending on who you listen to...it's bobbed a few times this tiny bit, while incarceration was going up up up.]

[sgt.null]

again - it is not staff that is committing the majority of rapes. i would like to see the break down of numbers from whatever report they are using.

as to staff - if you don't work at the prison, how do you know who works at the prison? prison guards are you and me. they are people trying to make a decent living. there are assholes who may gravitate, but that percent does not represent the rest of us.

and if we (the prison staff) seem a bit uncaring about the inmates - any of you should try working with them. little better than social animals. we get the worst society has to offer, with limited funding and outdated facilities.

the ratio of guards to inmates is horrible. try working a wing with 100 inmates. (stacked in three tiers) guess how many officers work that wing? one. i have had 50 plus inmates in the kitchen with just me, a can of pepper spray, a faulty radio and a distant phone. oh yeah, and a room containing at least a dozen knifes, two large metal bean paddles and various other nasty possible weapons.

the numbers are never on the staff's side. the inmates get away with so much - because superior numbers and planning.

cail has one thing right - prosecution of corrupt staff would help. but most times get caught with pics, a letter, tobacco, a phone for an inmate? you get to quit.

[Avatar]

I was speaking specifically about the rapist guards and prison employees.

Ah, I missed that. Definitely agree they should be prosecuted. I'm reminded of that prison experiment, where the participants chosen as guards became so cruel and brutal that the experiment was called off after only a few days.

--A

[Loredoctor]

I was speaking specifically about the rapist guards and prison employees.

Ah, I missed that. Definitely agree they should be prosecuted. I'm reminded of that prison experiment, where the participants chosen as guards became so cruel and brutal that the experiment was called off after only a few days.

--A

Stanford Prison Experiment.

[Loredoctor]

Particularly those horrible people who are locked up for having the temerity to possess a couple of grams of a substance society has deemed illegal. Those people ought to be locked under the jail.

Generally, they aren't. At least in my country, most judges would simply place them on probation or parole, which I think is the most fair system. However, given that most offences (around 80%) occur whilst the individual is under the influence of drugs, many of them are found to be in possession of illicit substances. But the judge will usually convict them for possession in addition to the more serious offences, and make the time served concurrent (i.e. 3 months for possession, and 12 months for the more serious one; total 12 months).

[Cail]

again - it is not staff that is committing the majority of rapes. i would like to see the break down of numbers from whatever report they are using.

as to staff - if you don't work at the prison, how do you know who works at the prison? prison guards are you and me. they are people trying to make a decent living. there are assholes who may gravitate, but that percent does not represent the rest of us.

and if we (the prison staff) seem a bit uncaring about the inmates - any of you should try working with them. little better than social animals. we get the worst society has to offer, with limited funding and outdated facilities.

the ratio of guards to inmates is horrible. try working a wing with 100 inmates. (stacked in three tiers) guess how many officers work that wing? one. i have had 50 plus inmates in the kitchen with just me, a can of pepper spray, a faulty radio and a distant phone. oh yeah, and a room containing at least a dozen knifes, two large metal bean paddles and various other nasty possible weapons.

the numbers are never on the staff's side. the inmates get away with so much - because superior numbers and planning.

cail has one thing right - prosecution of corrupt staff would help. but most times get caught with pics, a letter, tobacco, a phone for an inmate? you get to quit.

Nope, I've got the whole thing right, as does the article, as does the survey. If anything, the numbers are low.

bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/svpjri0809.pdf

[sgt.null]

could someone post that story linked in cail's post. anything requiring adobe will not work for me here. thank you.

[Cail]

could someone post that story linked in cail's post. anything requiring adobe will not work for me here. thank you.

It's the full 91-page report.

You asked, I delivered.