STOP PRISONER RAPE - National Center on Domestic and Sexual ...

III. SYSTEMIC CONDITIONS GIVING RISE TO SEXUAL ASSAULT IN DETENTION“How was it possible, in a protective custody unit, for twogang members who had spent many years in prison to rapea vulnerable man who had never been to prison and nevercommitted a violent crime? At the time of the rape, a singleofficer was responsible for observing a day room, a diningarea, and two floors of cells with open doors. It was notpossible, at any given time, for that officer to observe the entireunit. [T]he victim [reported] that the rape took place over aforty-five minute time span, in a second floor cell, while theofficer was in the day room, where she was unable to see insidethe cells on the second floor…But in an overcrowded system,it is unlikely that prisoners of different security levels who areidentified as being in need of protective custody will be furthersegregated…”Terry Kupers, “Rape and the Prison Code,” in Prison Masculinities 113 (Don Saboet. al. eds., 2001).As the U.S. inmate population continuesto swell, the likelihood of sexual abuseincreases. Prison and jail administratorsacross the nation are failing to keeptheir populations from outpacing thecapacity of existing facilities. Partly dueto the massive influx of new inmates,many prisons and jails also fail to ensurethat non-violent, first-time offenders areseparated from potentially predatoryinmates. In addition, a ‘code of silence’that is honored by prisoners andcorrections officials alike continues tokeep prisoner rape shrouded in secrecyboth inside prisons and jails and insociety at large.A. Over-Incarceration and Prison OvercrowdingWith more than 2.2 million people behind bars, theU.S. incarcerates a larger percentage of its populationthan any other country in the world. The inmatepopulation quadrupled between 1980 and 1999. 15More than 500,000 of these prisoners are incarceratedon drug charges. 16Although public support in the U.S. for the “war ondrugs” has waned considerably in recent years, the U.S.government has continued to pursue anti-drug policiesthat lead to the incarceration of large numbers of low-leveldrug users. Exceedingly long drug sentences contributeto the current prison overcrowding and understaffing.Despite a prison building boom of nearly two decades,officials at many U.S. corrections facilities have had toconvert cafeterias and gymnasiums into dormitories. Suchsevere overcrowding creates opportunities for predators, 17as procedures for housing potential perpetrators andvictims of sexual violence separately tend to be overlookedin facilities with a shortage of beds. 18“Teresa Smith,” a mother of two and a victimof sexual abuse during childhood, began to usepowdered cocaine at age 19 and eventuallybecame addicted to crack cocaine. She wassent to prison for the first time at age 26 forpossession of stolen goods, and was in and outof prison for the next 11 years. Smith wasraped by corrections officials twice, and wasrepeatedly sexually harassed and assaultedthroughout her years in prison. She told SPR:“The prisons are so overcrowded, and theofficers take advantage of that. They see allyour weaknesses. Some of them are predators.The gym is where I slept in and there were 120women in there. There is no privacy. Thereare no partitions. There are no doors…. Whathappens when you kick the covers off in bed atnight? You have got officers walking by withflashlights looking at you. Being locked upin that kind of environment was devastating– emotionally, physically, and mentallydraining.”SPR staff in-person interview, August 2005.8IN THE SHADOWS: Sexual Violence in U.S. Detention Facilities