Human Rights at Home and Abroad: Past, Present, and Future

A popular television show (Lock-Up, MSNBC) conveys to America the severity of sexual abuse
in prison. They show visited Kentucky state penitentiary, where they interviewed longtime inmate Fleece
Johnson. Throughout the interview he explains the importance of an incarcerated male relieving his
sexual desires. Fleece states that ―They won‘t let us have a woman… so somebody is going to have to
give up some booty‖. Inmate fleece describes his sexual appetite for ―booty‖ and how he would do
anything just to get it. Fleece told Lock-Up that at times ―booty was more important than food and water‖.
If an inmate is willing to place his sexual desires before nourishment, penal facilities must treat abuse in
prison as a punishable offense. It is common knowledge that men may be raped in prison, but few people
realize that women are at a high risk as well. ―Female inmates also face horrifying sexual abuse, often
from the very individuals sworn to defend their safety; prison guards‖. ―A study of incarcerated women
found rates of sexual coercion between 6% and 27% in the facilities‖ (Cronan). This study also showed
that one fifth of the incidents could be classified as rape, and half of the perpetrators were women; which
means the other half were staff members. Still not accounted for are the women who are scared to come
forward for fear of punishment and embarrassment. Fear of rape in prison not only occurs in the male
penal system but it also thrives within the female systems as well.
Discreetly, victims are targeted by already incarcerated inmates upon arrival to the penal facility.
Age, height, weight, appeal to the inmate, and sexual preference are many of the characteristics observed
of the new inmates to mark them as candidates for sexual abuse.
Human Rights Watch‘s research has revealed a broad range of factors that
correlate with increased vulnerability to rape. These include youth, small size, and
physical weakness; being white, gay, or a first offender; possessing a feminine
characteristics such as long hair or a high voice; being unassertive, unaggressive, shy,
intellectual, not street-smart, or a passive; or having been convicted of a sexual offense
against a minor (Lynne Rienner).
Every prisoner is vulnerable and may become a victim of rape, but the inmates that exhibit many of the
listed qualities are at higher risk for abuse.
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