Image: Bureau of Justice Statistics, public domain.
A 2005 article that appeared in The Criminologist was titled, “It ain’t happening here: Working to understand prison rape.” Although I had spent some time working in correctional facilities at that point, I still labored under the popular myth that sexual assaults in prison were absolutely ubiquitous.
Kreinert and Fleisher’s article taught me otherwise, and suggested that the narrative about prison rape is far more complicated than it might appear.
They wrote:
Hollywood and newspaper editorials as well as former inmates’ allegations of sexual assault, sexual coercion, rape and sexual slavery have slowly imprinted on America’s psyche the illusion that prison rape is a nearly inescapable consequence of imprisonment.
Prison rape research is flawed, they argue, and I don’t disagree. I also know that any kind of research on incarcerated populations or former inmates is extremely difficult to do. Prison officials don’t want to give access for fear of bad publicity or even lawsuits, while inmates, by turns, are scared to report, lie about being assaulted, lie about not being assaulted, and generally mistrust everyone.
Ultimately, Kreinert and Fleisher’s research finds that sexual assaults in prison are not nearly so common as you would think. A recent publication from the Bureau of Justice Statistics further supports their contention. (We should point out that the publication is recent (2012) but it is based on older data from 2008.)
Findings from the report include:
- An estimated 9.6% of former state prisoners reported one or more incidents of sexual victimization during the most recent period of incarceration in jail, prison, and postrelease community-treatment facility.
- Among all former state prisoners, 1.8% reported experiencing one or more incidents while in a local jail, 7.5% while in a state prison, and 0.1% while in a postrelease community-treatment facility.
- About 5.4% of former state prisoners reported an incident that involved another inmate.
- An estimated 3.7% of former prisoners said they were forced or pressured to have nonconsensual sex with another inmate, including manual stimulation and oral, anal, or vaginal penetration.
- About 5.3% of former state prisoners reported an incident that involved facility staff. An estimated 1.2% of former prisoners reported that they unwillingly had sex or sexual contact with facility staff, and 4.6% reported that they “willingly” had sex or sexual contact with staff.
- Although the rate of sexual victimization in state prison reported by former inmates (7.5%) was higher than the rate reported by inmates in previous BJS surveys (4.8% in 2008-09), the difference may reflect longer exposure periods (39.4 months and 7.9 months, respectively).
How common is prison sexual assault? It happens, and it’s serious. But it’s not the ubiquitous and inevitable experience that we so often believe it to be.
Related articles:
- Guards at Alabama women’s prison accused of widespread sexual abuse of inmates (al.com)
- Prison Rape Elimination Act to Expand to Immigrant Detention Centers (newamericamedia.org)
- Deaf In Prison: What Challenges Do Deaf Inmates Face? (crimedime.com)
- James Reynolds’ Last Suppers Photo Essay Offers A Cafeteria-Style Look at Capital Punishment (crimedime.com)
- 3 Reasons We Should Not Privatize Prisons (crimedime.com)
- Prison Populations are Up and Crime Rates are Down – What’s Up With That? (crimedime.com)
Valentine Logar
July 5, 2012
However, shouldn’t it be any sexual assault is to much?
Louise Behiel
July 5, 2012
go figure. I believed the hype, just like everyone else.
bitcodavid
July 5, 2012
I know it’s not ubiquitous, but it does occur, and as the above poster points out – any amount is too much.
I’ve been posting my skinny little
off, but I will be reblogging this tomorrow.
bastikononion
July 5, 2012
I don’t know how common it is, but any from of sexual assault is unwanted. At least it should be and of course not be tolerated.
I saw an documentation and a prisoner said that he’s the man and the one he has sex with is his wife. He did not consider himself gay or bi-sexual; he was just his wife. The “relationship” was most likely unwanted by the other guy. I found this point of view interesting.
arkansastruthseeker
July 5, 2012
Reblogged this on Upside Down.
Reema Siddiqui
July 5, 2012
I love this post of yours, because it addresses an issue society continues to ignore. After watching numerous episodes of certain shows based on law enforcement, I find it very disturbing what goes on in correctional facilities and prisons…
bitcodavid
July 6, 2012
Reblogged this on deafinprison and commented:
Regardless of the frequency or infrequency, sexual abuse and assault within correctional facilities is unacceptable and must be addressed. Law enforcement uses it as a big stick. The fear of incarceration is exacerbated in an interrogation scenario, by use of sexual abuse element. Cops don’t say, “You’ll be locked up and lose your freedom.” They say, “You’ll be locked in a cage with a rapist.”