[675] in peace2
Fwd: Rape Crisis in U.S. Prisons
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Marc Rios)
Thu Apr 19 12:21:28 2001
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Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2001 12:18:47 -0400
To: peace-list@mit.edu
From: Marc Rios <mrios@MIT.EDU>
>To: hrw-news@igc.topica.com
>From: Human Rights Watch <hrwatchnyc@igc.org>
>Subject: Rape Crisis in U.S. Prisons
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>Date: Thu, 19-Apr-2001 15:23:36 GMT
>
>Rape Crisis in U.S. Prisons
>First-Ever National Survey Finds Widespread Abuse, Official Indifference
>
>
>(New York, April 19, 2001) A ground-breaking new report by Human Rights
>Watch, No Escape: Male Rape in U.S. Prisons, charges that state
>authorities are responsible for widespread prisoner-on-prisoner sexual
>abuse in U.S. men's prisons. The 378-page report is based on more than
>three years of research and is the first national survey of
>prisoner-on-prisoner rape. There are some two million inmates in U.S.
>prisons and jails.
>
>"Rape is in no way an inevitable consequence of incarceration," said
> Joanne Mariner, deputy director
>of the Americas division of Human Rights Watch, and author of the
>report. "But it is a predictable one if prison and prosecutorial
>authorities do little to prevent and punish it."
>
>Human Rights Watch warned that by failing to implement reasonable
> measures to prevent and punish rapeóand, indeed, in many cases,
>taking actions that make sexual victimization likelyóstate authorities
>permit this physically and psychologically devastating abuse to occur.
>The group's findings are based on correspondence with
>more than 200 prisoners spread among thirty-four states, inmate
>interviews, and a comprehensive survey of state correctional
>authorities.
>
>Certain prisoners are targeted for sexual exploitation the moment they
>enter a penal facility: their age, looks, sexual preference, and other
>characteristics mark them as candidates for abuse. Human Rights Watch's
>research 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 "feminine"
>characteristics such as long hair or a high voice; being unassertive,
>unaggressive, shy, intellectual, not street-smart, or "passive"; or
>having been convicted of a sexual offense against a minor.
>
>Sexual Slavery
>In the most extreme cases, Human Rights Watch found that prisoners
>unable to escape a situation of sexual abuse may find themselves the
>"slaves" of their rapists. Forced to satisfy another man's sexual
>appetites whenever he demands, they may also be responsible for washing
>his clothes, massaging his back, cooking his food, cleaning his cell,
>and a range of other chores. They are frequently "rented out" for sex,
>sold, or even auctioned off to other inmates.
>
>No conclusive national data exist regarding the prevalence of
>prisoner-on-prisoner rape in the United States. But the most recent
>statistical survey, published in the Prison Journal, showed that 21
>percent of inmates in seven Midwestern prisons had experienced at least
>one episode of pressured or forced sex since being incarcerated,
> and at least 7 percent had been raped in their facility. And an
>internal departmental survey of corrections officers in one southern
>state found that line officers ó those charged with the direct
>supervision of inmates ó estimated that roughly one-fifth of all
>prisoners were being coerced into participation in inmate-on-inmate sex.
>
>"These rapes are unimaginably vicious and brutal," said Mariner. "Gang
>assaults are not uncommon, and victims may be left beaten, bloody and,
>in the most extreme cases, dead."
>
>One of the most tragic and violent cases the report documents is that of
>Randy Payne, a twenty-three-year-old incarcerated in Texas. Within a
>week of entering prison, Payne was attacked by a group of some twenty
>inmates. The inmates demanded sex and money, but Payne refused. He was
>beaten for almost two hours, and died of head injuries a few days later.
>
>Victims of rape often suffer extreme psychological stress, a condition
>identified as "rape trauma syndrome." Many inmate victims with whom
>Human Rights Watch has been in contact have reported nightmares, deep
> depression, shame, loss of self-esteem, self-hatred, and
>considering or attempting suicide.
>
>"Deliberate Indifference"
>Correctional authorities generally deny that prisoner-on-prisoner rape
>is a serious problem. Human Rights Watch surveyed correctional
>authorities in all 50 states on the prevalence of rape and sexual abuse.
>In that multi-year survey, not one state reported abuse rates even
>faintly approaching those found by academic researchers. For example,
>New Mexico prison officials said, regarding "the ëproblem' of male
>inmate-on-inmate rape and sexual abuse" (internal quotation marks are
>theirs), that they had "no recorded incidents over the past few years."
>Nearly half of all states do not even compile separate statistics on
>sexual assault.
>
>The authorities' reluctance to acknowledge the problem of
>prisoner-on-prisoner rape is reflected not only in misleading official
>statistics, but also in a glaringly inadequate response to incidents of
>rape. "U.S. state prisons have failed to take even obvious, basic steps
>necessary to tackle prison rape," Mariner said. "This deliberate
>indifference has had tragic consequences."
>
>A central problem is the deficient ó and, in many instances, callous and
>irresponsible ó response of correctional staff to complaints of rape.
>When an inmate informs an officer he has been threatened with rape or,
>worse, actually assaulted, it is crucial that his complaint be
>investigated and that he be protected from further abuse. Yet Human
>Rights Watch found that correctional staff frequently ignore or even
>react hostilely to inmates' complaints of rape.
>
>"Another important contributing factor to the prison rape crisis is the
>failure of the criminal justice system to address these crimes," said
>Mariner. "Perpetrators of prison rape rarely face criminal charges, even
>when rape is accompanied by extreme physical violence."
>
>The case of M.R., a Texas inmate, is illustrative. M.R. was violently
>raped and beaten several times over a period of several months by the
>same prisoner. Fearful for his life, he reported the abuse to the prison
>authorities, but found no protection. In fact one investigator dismissed
>the problem as a "lovers' quarrel." Finally one day the rapist showed up
>in M.R.'s housing area and attacked M.R. again. The rapist hit M.R. so
>hard with a combination lock that when M.R. regained consciousness he
>could read the word "Master" ó the lockmaker ó on his
>forehead. In all, during the rape, M.R. suffered a broken neck, jaw,
>left collarbone, and finger; a dislocated left shoulder; two major
>concussions, and lacerations to his scalp that caused bleeding on the
>brain. Notwithstanding the extreme violence of the attack, and despite
>M.R.'s best efforts to press charges, the rapist was
>never criminally prosecuted.
>
>Another devastating consequence of prisoner-on-prisoner rape discussed
>in the report is the transmission of the HIV virus. Several prisoners
>with whom Human Rights Watch is in contact believe that they have
>contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, through forced sexual
>intercourse in prison.
>
>The book-length Human Rights Watch report explains:
>
>… why and how prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse occurs;
>
>… who commits it and who falls victim to it;
>
>… prison rape's long-term effects, both physical and psychological;
>
>… how are prison authorities coping with it; and
>
>… what reforms must be instituted to better prevent rape from
>occurring.
>
>"Prison rape is part of the mythology of prison life. But in reality, it
>is devastating human rights abuse that can and should be prevented,"
>said Mariner. The report includes extensive recommendations to federal
>and state authorities, urging them to step up their efforts to address
>this gross violation of human dignity.
>
>The report, No Escape: Male Rape in U.S. Prisons, is available on-line
>at http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/prison/
>
>Excerpts from prisoners' letters to Human Rights Watch are available at
>http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/04/rapetest.htm.
>
>For more information on justice in the United States, please see,
>US: A Human Rights Agenda for the Justice Department (HRW Press Release,
>March 29, 2001) at http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/03/ashcroft0329.htm
>
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