Rape cases in US prisons number in the thousands

[Judi Lynn]

Rape cases in US prisons number in the thousands

Fri Jul 29, 8:59 PM ET



WASHINGTON (AFP) - Nearly 2,100 incidents of rape and other sexual violence were recorded in US prisons in 2004, US justice authorities said.

The Department of Justice said that the highest rate of prison rape and other forced sexual acts was in state-run juvenile prisons, and that the largest portion involved prison staff abuse of inmates.

According to a department report on prison sexual violence, a total of 8,210 cases of sexual violence were reported in adult prisons, local jails and juvenile correctional facilities in 2004.

This amounted to 3.2 allegations per 1,000 inmates.
(snip/...)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050730/ts_alt_afp/usjusticeprisonsrape_050730005900;_ylt=AkI6QcswSAc.bzrnd5Ahswys0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MjBwMWtkBHNlYwM3MTg-

[freeplessinseattle]

1. I'm inclined to think the number is much much higher

I realize these are only reported incidents, and I'm thinking inmates might be more inclined to report a staff member than a fellow inmate, for fear of backlash from other inmates.

[NashVegas]

3. Same Here

And I'm thinking the population in adult prisons takes a more jaundiced view and may be less likely to report.

[Dogmudgeon]

2. I'd heard it was more like 10-20%

That was back in the early 1980s.

Are the any other authoritative reports on this?

--p!

[Judi Lynn]

4. Moderator, I just discovered this story was published Friday night.

Sorry I missed it.

[Solly Mack]

5. You know, it really disgust me when people applaud rape in prison

It's like they don't even consider what it says about us as a society when our system of justice turns a blind eye to such brutality.

"Oh, that's just what happens in prison"

NO! It's the attitude that people in prison deserve to be treated as less than human that permits such abuses to go unchecked. We might not can stop all rape from happening in prison but we need to try.

If we become no better than the person who committed murder by giving them the death penalty, then doesn't the same thinking apply to rape?

If we cheer the rape of a prisoner that has been convicted of rape, are we any better than the rapist? If you cheer a rape, even if you're not taking part, aren't you still guilty?

Are people really comfortable with the idea of prison guards turning a blind eye to rape in prison?

Are people comfortable knowing prison guards rape prisoners?

How can anyone complain about police brutality and not understand that a prison guard raping an inmate IS police brutality?

I fully understand the anger and hurt that drives a parent to attack their child's rapist....and I would rather the parent get court imposed counseling than be sent to prison....but I cannot conscience the attitude that suggest once a person is shipped off to prison that they are somehow no longer human and thereby justifiably subjected to any and all abuses.

And if you condone it for any prisoner, because you feel they deserve it for their crime...aren't you condemning ALL prisoners to that same fate?

There are some truly horrible humans in this world who do some truly horrible things, but am I supposed to do back to them what they did to me? What does that say about me if I do? Is that really the kind of justice we want?

It just doesn't speak well of us a society at all.

Oh, and just so I get spared the inevitable "Yeah but IF you're ever..."

FYI:I have been... and I still don't support prisoners being abused.

[clement]

6. Read the Stop Prisoner Rape site...

www.spr.org. The organization was created by a man known as "Donny the Punk". He was imprisoned for doing a peaceful protest on the White House lawn to oppose the Vietnam war. He was arrested and ordered to pay a $10 fine. He refused, so the prison head guard decided to teach him a lesson and send hin into the maximum security prison unit for a few days.

He was thus violently raped and gangraped up to 60 times over the next 48 hours. Google search his name and read about him. His life sotry is awful.

Some of the real life stories on www.spr.org are absolutely shocking.

Kids being sent to prison for things like traffic violations or running away from home and then committing suicide in prison to escape the continual rapings and sexual slavery they have to endure.

amazingly Bush did actually sign a bill specifically designed to reduce prisoner on prisoner rape in his first term.

[arcos]

8. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[wellstone dem]

7. Rape is wrong

no matter where it happens. But somehow it's ok to joke about rape in prison, it's ok to dismiss it.

[Obamanaut]

9. There are more than 2 million people

incarcerated in U.S. jails and prisons today. Most of them will get out. If we continue to allow them to be mistreated and brutalized, if we continue to warehouse them rather than making something more than a token attempt at rehabilitation, will we be surprised when those who return to our neighborhoods are not the ideal neighbors? We shouldn't be - we allowed it to happen.

A really good line (not an exact quote) from the movie "ConAIr" - "not everyone in prison is an animal." We should stop allowing them to be treated like one.

[Logansquare]

10. One of James Byrd's murderers (dragging death in Texas)

was raped in prison by a black gang, reportedly with the approval of white supremacist prisoners who hoped to recruit him. His family said he was very non-racist before he went to prison, and came out with a virulent hatred of blacks.

[Samurai_Writer]

11. James Byrd's murderer non-racist?

Considering he was convicted of killing Byrd because the man was BLACK, I'd say that makes him a racist. Ever been to East Texas? It's a scary, scary place for anyone who is not lily-white.

[Logansquare]

12. Uh, did you read my post? Oh never mind.

[Eloriel]

13. Yes, I read it and had the same problem with it. Could you please

clarify???

[Catherine Vincent]

16. He meant Byrd's killer was supposedly "non-racist" before he entered

prison the first time.

[WhiteTara]

14. the training ground for Abu Graib and Gitmo

[rman]

15. Torture Inc. - Americas Brutal Prisons

Torture Inc. - Americas Brutal Prisons
(2004, 50 minutes)
http://mysite.verizon.net/res7dhyg/documentaries_4.html

This BBC program (http://www.channel4.com/news/microsites/T/torture/cases.html) shows that abuses like those documented in Abu Ghraib are commonplace in the USA’s overcrowded and understaffed prisons. Prisoners are shackled and hooded ‘for their own protection’; pepper spray is used as an alternative to physical force, but in sufficient quantities to cause second-degree burns; beatings are frequent and sometimes fatal. The programme suggests that the cause is not a few ‘bad apples’, but a pervasive culture of dehumanisation and brutality.

Download 80MB
http://informationclearinghouse.info/video1/2prison.wmv