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

facilities in the U.S. reported the highest rates of sexual abuse by corrections personnel. 37 TheDepartment of Justice (DOJ) found that juveniles reported more than 2,800 allegations ofsexual violence during that year alone. 38 Fifty-nine percent of these incidents were committedby other youth in the facilities, while 41 percent were committed by staff. 39 Three out of tenof the alleged incidents were substantiated by the facilities. In the remaining cases, there eitherwas insufficient evidence or the allegations were determined to be unfounded. 40C. Gay and Transgender Detainees“Lisa Nelson” is a pre-operative transgender woman who suffersfrom mental illness. In September 2004, while being held at aCalifornia jail on charges of smuggling drugs into a correctionalfacility, another inmate threatened to stab her if she did not comewith him to the shower stalls, where he proceeded to rape her. Acorrections official walked by as the rape was being perpetratedand laughed, doing nothing to stop it. Subsequently, the facilityplaced the perpetrator in a cell together with Nelson.Nelson told SPR that, “he did nothing but beat me and rapeme. When I finally got out of there, I had two black eyes thatwere completely closed up. I didn’t deserve this.” In September2005, after refusing Nelson’s requests to be housed in the unitfor gay and transgender inmates, the facility placed her in aprotective custody unit with about six other inmates. Two ofthem immediately forced her to perform oral sex. A deputy whosaw the attacks taking place did nothing. Nelson told SPR thatthe next day, “the deputy made jokes about it. He asked mehow much I charge for that.” Nelson went on to tell SPR that“[s]ometimes, I want to die. I’m scared to close my eyes at night.”Gay and transgender inmatesare perhaps the hardest hit bysexual violence in custody. Astudy of one institution reportedthat 41 percent of gay inmateshad been sexually assaulted, arate that was three times higherthan that for the institutionoverall. 41 Transgender inmateswho have developed breastsand a feminine appearance,for example, are especiallyvulnerable to various forms ofsexual harassment, such as beingsubjected to gawking, verbalabuse, and sexual touching bymale prisoners and correctionsofficials. Contributing to theheightened risk that gay andtransgender inmates face arethe reckless and indiscriminateclassification practices thatmost facilities continue touse. For example, transgenderinmates are often automatically placed either in protective custody with few opportunities toparticipate in prison programs, or with the general population without regard to their uniqueneeds and physical appearance. 42SPR staff in-person interview, 2005.Gay and transgender inmates who have the courage to come forward and report abuse typicallyface greater institutional apathy than other detainees. Corrections officials tend to conflatehomosexuality and transgender status with consent to rape, and so trivialize these inmates’claims. In the many letters from inmates to SPR, gay and transgender prisoners frequentlydescribe officials ignoring or even laughing at their reports of sexual abuse. In some cases,14IN THE SHADOWS: Sexual Violence in U.S. Detention Facilities