9 Out of 10 Sex Abuse Victims in Prisons Are Males Abused By Female Staffers

[Jackpine Radical]

http://www.alternet.org/9-out-10-sex-abuse-victims-prisons-are-males-abused-female-staffers

This originally appeared on ProPublica.

Last week, the Justice Department convened hearings under the Prison Rape Elimination Act to examine the prevalence of rape and sexual abuse in the nation’s prisons and juvenile detention centers. As we’ve reported, the department has found alarming rates of abuse by staff on youngsters in custody. In a 2013 survey of more than 8,700 juveniles housed in 326 facilities across the country, 8 percent said they experienced sex abuse at the hands of the staff supervising them. Twenty percent of those who said they were victimized by staff said it happened on more than 10 occasions. But perhaps the most surprising finding: Nine out of 10 victims were males abused by female staffers.

The prison rape elimination legislation first passed in 2003, but it then took the Justice Department nearly 10 years to study the issue and release rules for prisons and juvenile detention centers to implement. Beginning late last year, auditors contracted by the federal government started inspecting these facilities to make sure that staff members are being trained on how to prevent sexual abuse and that there are effective means to monitor it.

[In_The_Wind]

1. Damn!

[ZombieHorde]

2. Surprising. The Lucifer effect comes to mind. nt

[Scuba]

3. Makes sense doesn't it? What percent of inmates are male/female?

[seaglass]

4. Horrible. I noticed some states had 0 incidents while there were about 4 facilities

that had a high rate of abuse. I wonder what makes the difference (other than large vs small facility), what has been done to change this and who is being held accountable.

[bettyellen]

5. Micro cultures where it is more permissible.....

And micro cultures where things (finally) get reported. Rest assured there are places that still have hidden problems.
Why didn't they report % of males vs % of females? The stat is worthless as is.

[Gormy Cuss]

6. As always the perpetrators should be brought to justice.

There is no excuse for adults to have sexual contact with juvenile corrections detainees.


eta: it's a bullshit headline though. The author takes a stat specific to juvenile males and then discusses the issue as if it's a state for all incarcerated males.

[bettyellen]

7. Wow 75% of staff at Rikers are women?

I had no idea.

[seaglass]

9. I didn't even notice the headline - yes this is about juveniles not adult male prisoners. n/t

[msanthrope]

8. Having worked in a facility where there were confined juveniles, I wouldn't

doubt that figure at all.

[bettyellen]

10. What % are male though? I thought it was about 80%?