Stories from Inside: Prisoner Rape and the War on Drugs
Los Angeles, March 22, 2007 – It is widely accepted that the U.S. “war
on drugs” has been both costly and ineffective. Less known is the
devastating link between current U.S. drug policies, prison
overcrowding, and rape behind bars. In Stories from Inside, a report
released today, Stop Prisoner Rape (SPR) makes clear for the first time
how the war on drugs has contributed to the sexual violence that
plagues
prisons and jails across the country, derailing justice and shattering
human dignity.
Stories from Inside offers first-hand accounts by 24 prisoner rape
survivors, all of whom were sexually assaulted while serving time for a
non-violent drug-related offense. The report also offers an overview
and
analysis of the war on drugs, highlighting how it affects the sentences
and prison experiences of hundreds of thousands of Americans and making
policy recommendations.
The stories of prisoner rape survivors from 16 states and the District
of Columbia form part of Stories from Inside: Arkansas, Arizona,
California, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Texas, Virginia, and
West Virginia.
“Anyone can become a victim of prisoner rape, but non-violent drug
offenders who are unschooled in the ways of prison life tend to be
targeted, especially when they are housed in cramped cells or in poorly
monitored dormitories that were never meant to hold inmates in the
first
place,” said Lovisa Stannow, SPR’s Co-Executive Director.
With laws requiring longer sentences for drug offenses and less
judicial
discretion for leniency, the war on drugs has resulted in a mushrooming
of the inmate population. In the U.S. today, more than 500,000 people
are incarcerated on drug charges alone, with thousands more imprisoned
on drug-motivated crimes, such as property offenses and public order
violations. Overcrowded facilities, rife with tension, are breeding
grounds for sexual abuse, and non-violent drug offenders are among
those
at greatest risk for violence.
Prisoner rape remains vastly underreported, with victims too afraid to
speak out for fear of stigma or future attacks. Recent research studies
suggest that as many as 20 percent of male prisoners in the U.S. have
been pressured or coerced into sex, and 10 percent have been raped. In
a
study at one women’s facility, more than a quarter of the inmates
reported that they had been subjected to sexual abuse. With little or
no
institutional protection, victims are left with physical injuries, are
impregnated against their will, contract HIV and other sexually
transmitted diseases, and suffer severe psychological harm.
Bryson Martel was sent to prison for writing a bad check to support his
crack cocaine addiction. Raped repeatedly by more than 25 inmates in an
Arkansas prison, Martel contracted HIV and was diagnosed with
full-blown
AIDS in 2002. “It’s awful that a person would have to go in and pay
that
price like that,” he said. “I paid double price. That check I wrote
cost
me my life.”
Some 95 percent of U.S. inmates eventually return home, bringing their
prison experiences with them. For survivors of sexual violence, the
emotional and physical scars of the abuse they endured while
incarcerated can fester for years, even decades, profoundly affecting
family, friends, and the wider community.
Marilyn Shirley, a Texan who was incarcerated for conspiracy to
distribute drugs, was raped by a corrections officer while one of his
colleagues stood watch. Today, years after the attack, she is still
struggling to cope with everyday activities. “I can’t even hold my
grandbaby because I’m afraid of having a panic attack and dropping her.
I can’t do some of the basic things, like watch certain TV shows, or go
over high freeway overpasses because I start to panic,” she said. “Now
that I am out of prison, I am left with the devastating impacts of the
rape.”
Prisoner rape is known to be a significant problem in U.S. prisons and
jails – and the ways to prevent this type of violence are known as
well.
In Stories from Inside, SPR offers concrete recommendations, urging
corrections authorities to introduce inmate classification and housing
policies that protect vulnerable detainees from violence, and calling
for reduced incarceration rates for people convicted of non-violent
drug
offenses.
Stop Prisoner Rape (SPR) is a national human rights organization
committed to ending sexual violence against men, women, and children in
all forms of detention.
For a copy of the Stories from Inside report, visit
http://www.spr.org/pdf/StoriesFromInside032207.pdf For more information, please contact Amber Durfield at:
adurfield@spr.org or (213) 384-1400 ext. 102.
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