Posted on 02/12/2007 11:22:29 AM PST by B-Chan
"I've been sentenced for a D.U.I. offense. My 3rd one. When I first came to prison, I had no idea what to expect. Certainly none of this. I'm a tall white male, who unfortunately has a small amount of feminine characteristics. And very shy. These characteristics have got me raped so many times I have no more feelings physically. I have been raped by up to 5 black men and two white men at a time. I've had knifes at my head and throat. I had fought and been beat so hard that I didn't ever think I'd see straight again. One time when I refused to enter a cell, I was brutally attacked by staff and taken to segragation though I had only wanted to prevent the same and worse by not locking up with my cell mate. There is no supervision after lockdown. I was given a conduct report. I explained to the hearing officer what the issue was. He told me that off the record, He suggests I find a man I would/could willingly have sex with to prevent these things from happening. I've requested protective custody only to be denied. It is not available here. He also said there was no where to run to, and it would be best for me to accept things . . . . I probably have AIDS now. I have great difficulty raising food to my mouth from shaking after nightmares or thinking to hard on all this . . . . I've laid down without physical fight to be sodomized. To prevent so much damage in struggles, ripping and tearing. Though in not fighting, it caused my heart and spirit to be raped as well. Something I don't know if I'll ever forgive myself for."
***
The letter excerpted above was one of the first to reach Human Rights Watch in response to a small announcement posted in Prison Legal News and Prison Life Magazine, two publications with a wide audience in U.S. prisons. Having been alerted to the problem of prisoner-on-prisoner rape in the United States by the work of activists like Stephen Donaldson of the organization Stop Prisoner Rape, we had decided to conduct exploratory research into the topic and had put a call out to prisoners for information. The resulting deluge of letters--many of which included compelling firsthand descriptions such as this--convinced us that the issue merited urgent attention. Rape, by prisoners' accounts, was no aberrational occurrence; instead it was a deeply-rooted, systemic problem. It was also a problem that prison authorities were doing little to address.
The present report--the product of three years of research and well over a thousand inmate letters--describes the complex dynamics of male prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse in the United States. The report is an effort to explain why and how such abuse occurs, who commits it and who falls victim to it, what are its effects, both physical and psychological, how are prison authorities coping with it and, most importantly, what reforms can be instituted to better prevent it from occurring.
***
The Scope of this Report
This report is limited in scope to male prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse in the United States. It does not cover women prisoners, nor does it cover the sexual abuse of male prisoners by their jailers. Human Rights Watch investigated the problem of custodial sexual misconduct in U.S. women's prisons in two previous reports and the issue has been a continuing focus of our U.S. advocacy efforts. As to custodial sexual misconduct against male prisoners, we decided not to include that topic within the scope of this report even though some prisoners who claimed to have been subject to such abuse did contact us. An initial review of the topic convinced us that it involved myriad issues that were distinct from the topic at hand, which is complicated enough in itself.
Even though the notices that Human Rights Watch circulated to announce our research on prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse were written in gender-neutral language, we received no information from women prisoners regarding the problem. As prison experts are well aware, penal facilities for men and women tend to differ in important respects. If the problem of prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse exists in women's institutions--a possibility we do not exclude--it is likely to take somewhat different forms than in men's prisons.
For several reasons, the primary focus of this report is on sexual abuse in prisons, rather than jails. Most importantly, all of our information save a handful of letters came from prison as opposed to jail inmates. Many of these prisoners did, however, describe sexual abuses they had suffered when previously held in jails, allowing us to gather some information on the topic. Nonetheless, the bulk of our prisoner testimonies and documentation--and all of the information we collected from state authorities--pertain specifically to prisons. Already, with fifty separate state prison jurisdictions in the United States, the task of collecting official information was difficult; obtaining such information from the many thousands of local authorities responsible for city and county jails would have been infinitely more so. Yet we should emphasize that our lack of specific research on jails should be not interpreted as suggesting that the problem does not occur there. Although little research has been done on sexual assault in jails, the few commentators who have examined the topic have found the abuse to be similarly or even more prevalent there.
It is evident to Human Rights Watch, even without having completed exhaustive research into the jail context, that the problems we describe with regard to prisons generally hold true for jails as well. This conclusion derives from the fact that most of the risk factors leading to rape exist in prisons and jails alike. We therefore believe that our recommendations for reform are largely applicable in the jail context, and we urge jail authorities to pay increased attention to the issue of prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse.
While this report does not deal specifically with juvenile institutions, we note that previous research, while extremely scanty, suggests that inmate-on-inmate sexual abuse may be even more common in juvenile institutions than it is in facilities for adults. Indeed, a case filed recently by the U.S. Justice Department in federal court to challenge conditions in a Louisiana juvenile institution includes serious allegations of inmate-on-inmate rape.
Finally, our choice of U.S. prisons as the subject of this research, over prisons elsewhere in the world, in no way indicates that we believe the problem to be unique to the United States. On the contrary, our international prison research convinces us that prisoner-on-prisoner rape is of serious concern around the world. We note that several publications on human rights or prison conditions in other countries have touched on or explored the topic, as have past Human Rights Watch prison reports.(8) Interestingly, researchers outside of the United States have reached many of the same conclusions as researchers here, suggesting that specific cultural variables are not determinative with regard to rape in prison.(9)
***
Methodology
The report is primarily based on information collected from over 200 prisoners spread among thirty-seven states. The majority of these inmates have been raped or otherwise sexually abused while in prison, and were therefore able to give firsthand accounts of the problem. Numerous inmates who were not subject to sexual abuse also provided their views on the topic, including information about sexual assaults that they had witnessed. A very small number of inmates who had themselves participated in rape also contributed their perspectives. Much of the information was received via written correspondence, although Human Rights Watch representatives spoke by telephone with a number of prisoners, and personally interviewed twenty-six of them. Prisoner testimonies were supplemented by documentary materials such as written grievances, court papers, letters, and medical records.
Prisoners were contacted using several different methods. Human Rights Watch posted announcements in a number of publications and leaflets that reach prisoners--including Prison Legal News, Prison Life Magazine (which has since ceased publication), and Florida Prison Legal Perspectives--informing them that we were conducting research on the topic of prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse and that we welcomed their information. Several organizations that work with prisoners, including Stop Prisoner Rape, put us in contact with additional inmates.
The prisoners who collaborated in our efforts were thus a largely self-selected group, not a random sampling. Previous researchers have conducted quantitative studies using statistically valid techniques in certain U.S. prisons -- most recently, in 1998 in seven midwestern state prison systems -- but, given that there are some two million prisoners in the United States, this would be difficult to achieve on a national scale. The research on which the present report was based was thus qualitative in nature: it sought to identify systemic weaknesses rather than to quantify actual cases of abuse. The result, we believe, sketches the outlines of a national problem, bridging the gap between academic research on the topic and the more anecdotal writings that occasionally appear in the popular press.
The prisoners with whom Human Rights Watch was in contact, we should emphasize, did not simply serve as a source of case material. Rather, their comments and insights--based on firsthand knowledge and close observation--inform every page of the report.
Besides prisoners, we also obtained valuable information from prison officials, prison experts, lawyers who represent prisoners, prisoners rights organizations, and prisoners' relatives. Written materials including academic studies, books, and articles from the popular press supplemented these sources. In addition, Human Rights Watch conducted an extensive review of the case law relevant to prison rape in the United States.
They don't rape men, they rape 'punks'. That's what 'punks' are for, right?
Yes it does happen to men in prison. Please see the link here: http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?pnpid=680&show=archivedetails&ArchiveID=1231804&om=1
I know the guy it happened to. Sad case....
So they have any insight as to the prevalence of prison rape?
"I work in Durham, NC. But I do try to avoid black strippers, whores, exotic dancers, etc."
Nifong would still throw your ass in jail to be raped if it would get him re-elected, given the chance and the reason.
The criminal justice system ain't what it used to be.
Never asked him about it. I don't see him too much when I go home to visit.
Perhaps you don't care about this individual. But what about the behavior that actually occurs? We don't allow cops to administer "justice", nor do we allow prison guards to adminiser "justice", so why is it tolerated than other prisoners can administer "justice". Doesn't the overall principle of the thing bother you?
I have known lots of "righteous" jerks with attitudes like that. All blame must be properly affixed FIRST, and moralistic drivel always precedes the clucking condemnation. I have some news for you Charlie. If you are standing on some weird pathetic sliver of moral prudery then I join the leftist rabble in spitting on your "moralism." It is nothing but hate dressed up in ethical lingo, pride in the name of social order, and self vaunting pretending to be something other than a selfish boor. One final note on that: it was the RELIGIOUSLY RIGHTEOUS who performed the most monstrous grotesque crime of human history by nailing Jesus to the cross, and some things don't change after 21 centuries. Let him come back and the Pharisaical robes would come right back on, and it only takes about 5 mins in FR to see that.
The righteousness that will stop our societal spiral into the sewer is not the pathetic, brittle, impotent clinging to past moral codes for God only knows what, like some retarded remake of Fiddler on the Roof bawling out "tradition!" Real positive moral force that can redirect society is a POWERFUL commitment to purity, yes. In the same breath, though, it maintains that it is important to love, and love aggressively ALL MEN, as they share the image of the source of goodness, purity and love. The other kind of righteousness is is a cheap painted up whore beckoning from the shadows, while the love of your life beckons in front of you. No thanks.
Rape is rape. It shouldn't matter where it occurs. Rape is a violent crime against an innocent human being. Yes, these prisoners are in most cases guilty of a crime. But, the prisoners themselves have no right to attack one another.
Whenever I have seen a young person on television, hauled away from the courtroom and bound for jail, I always wonder if they will become victims of violence in the penal system.
We know that prisoners join gangs for protection, be it based solely on race, or gang membership. This does not absolve them of crimes committed in jail. But, it does explain some of the violence inside the prison system.
And mothers who see their sons or daughters hauled away... I think they know in their hearts that their children can be victims of violent crime, be it beatings, rape or murder.
In no way do I believe that criminals shouldn't be punished, but I do believe they deserve some basic human rights.
I don't know about that. Look at Scooter Libbey.
You foolishly think prison is only for criminals. Read the bible and look at the saints that get thrown into prison.
Did you see what happened when Bellick threw Tweener in with Avacado? That wasn't right!
They will give away every freedom enumerated in the Constitution, and at every single turn will bleat "nothing to fear if you are one of the good guys."
How about tossing child molesters in cages with horny gorillas? Add a little "female gorilla in season" scent to their butts for good measure.
Anal rape is agreed to be cruel and unusual punishment by pretty much anyone, I'd bet.
In my single law class, (Constitutional Law) one point that was brought up over and over again was that the punishment must fit the crime.
So if a woman or man has been convicted for drunk driving, even if it was a third offense, you are perfectly fine with that person being raped over and over again as part of their sentence?
You and I are in complete agreement.
Sadly, respect for human dignity is not really a popular idea these days.
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