The Problem of Prison Rape

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BornInMarch

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There are three things I hope we can all agree to.
  1. Rape is among the worst things someone could do.
  2. Nobody deserves to be raped.
  3. Everybody is endowed by God with basic human rights, rights which should never be taken away
Keep these three things in mind when I tell you the rest of what I am going to tell you.

In the United States today, it is estimated that around 20% of all prisoners are coerced into sexual activity while behind bars.

Let that sink in for a moment: 20%. That is one out of every five. That means if you get sent to prison, there is a one in five chance that a fellow inmate will force himself on you. While this is sickening, the hight number is not in and of itself what is surprising (after all, rape statistics are normally high). What is surprising is society’s reaction.

There seems to be an assumption in society that prison rape is natural, that it’s just another part of the punishment, and that since they’re prisoners they deserve it. Prison Guards and Staff turn a blind eye to their inmates getting put through this nightmare. Movies about prison or the legal system make jokes about it at best and at worst portray the villain as getting what he deserves when he gets locked in a cell with a rapist. A large number of people also voice this opinion, stating that prisoners are criminal scum who deserve to get raped.

If you honestly believe that a man who robbed a store or stole a car deserves to get put through a traumatizing nightmare on a regular basis for years on end, than you need to learn what it means for a punishment to fit a crime.

Apart from that, several of the lofty goals that society strives toward can be summed up as being the bigger person. For example, look at the quote below from the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.

“all cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments shall be completely prohibited as punishments for disciplinary offences.”

Raise your hand if you consider rape and/or sexual assaults to be cruel, inhuman, or degrading.

Keep your hand up if you think basic human rights are inalienable.

Now that I shared some information on the topic, please discuss. Share more information (statistics, antidotes, etc.), voice opinions. Just please try to be respectful.
 
BornInMarch said:
There are three things I hope we can all agree to.
  1. Rape is among the worst things someone could do.
  2. Nobody deserves to be raped.
  3. Everybody is endowed by God with basic human rights, rights which should never be taken away
Keep these three things in mind when I tell you the rest of what I am going to tell you.

In the United States today, it is estimated that around 20% of all prisoners are coerced into sexual activity while behind bars.

Let that sink in for a moment: 20%. That is one out of every five. That means if you get sent to prison, there is a one in five chance that a fellow inmate will force himself on you. While this is sickening, the hight number is not in and of itself what is surprising (after all, rape statistics are normally high). What is surprising is society’s reaction.

There seems to be an assumption in society that prison rape is natural, that it’s just another part of the punishment, and that since they’re prisoners they deserve it. Prison Guards and Staff turn a blind eye to their inmates getting put through this nightmare. Movies about prison or the legal system make jokes about it at best and at worst portray the villain as getting what he deserves when he gets locked in a cell with a rapist. A large number of people also voice this opinion, stating that prisoners are criminal scum who deserve to get raped.

If you honestly believe that a man who robbed a store or stole a car deserves to get put through a traumatizing nightmare on a regular basis for years on end, than you need to learn what it means for a punishment to fit a crime.

Apart from that, several of the lofty goals that society strives toward can be summed up as being the bigger person. For example, look at the quote below from the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.

“all cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments shall be completely prohibited as punishments for disciplinary offences.”

Raise your hand if you consider rape and/or sexual assaults to be cruel, inhuman, or degrading.

Keep your hand up if you think basic human rights are inalienable.

Now that I shared some information on the topic, please discuss. Share more information (statistics, antidotes, etc.), voice opinions. Just please try to be respectful.
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I agree with all you said. I guess my question to you is “what do we do about it?” It’s not as if the prison system can be monitored by an outside agency or that instituting new prison rules will stop a rapist from raping another prisoner. Other than prayer, what do you suggest we do to stop this continued crime?😦
 
Prison rape is about power or used to control others there’s a whole hierarchy in the prison system but I’ve heard of guards purposely telling other inmates if say a new prisoner was a pedophile or rapist just so the other inmates would “pay him back” either through beatings or rape but rape is terrible and guards shouldn’t just turn a blind eye or excite inmates to do it
 
I think the public impression concerning this issue is ginned up as a deterrent.

In recent decades, citizens have been made to feel helpless in relation to crime. By making jokes about male rape in prison, the society is saying in effect, “You make us feel helpless, but when you go to prison, this is what you yourself will be helpless to.”

While I empathize with that line of feeling, I don’t get how someone’s total dehumanization can “straighten them out,” which should after all be the goal.

I am glad that laws have been written to address the issue.

ICXC NIKA
Horton said:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_Rape_Elimination_Act_of_2003

This is something that has been done about it.
Click to expand...
 
Those who make jokes about this are part of the problem.

I think the problem has gained more exposure in recent years; let’s hope there is work at reducing and eliminating this.
 
Here in South Africa, it is estimated that the percentage of prisoners that are raped is around 70-90%.

It is despicable, Not only for the reasons Captain America suggests (which I totally agree with) but because it destroys what little chance some of these prisoners might have had to reform by scarring them psychologically, Also, it emboldens their rapists, because if they are allowed to be violent and lawless inside prison, then it almost a given they will continue said behavior outside prison (when they are released, are paroled, or escape).
 
I am disgusted when people joke about this. I support punishing criminals but the punishment needs to be at the hands of the just, not the unjust. And the punishment needs to be just, not unjust.

The fact that so much rape occurs in prison also demonstrates something else. The government claims it can protect you most often at the expense of your freedom. Prisoners have the least freedom of any people in a society. They also have the most protection from the state. And yet crime in prison not only occurs but is prevalent. A dismissive response might be to point out that the population is limited to criminals. That is true. But those same people walked the streets free prior to their criminal act. In order to victimize men in prison they first had to victimize free men, and the succeeded, which is how they ended up in prison.
 
As someone who visits the jails for communion service and bible study, I thank you for bringing this to others attention. It is a sick and disgusting thing that some are forced to go though, and as someone else has commented, the jokes that people make about it are just wrong. Those jokes are just like saying that a woman deserves to be raped because of the clothes that they wear. NOBODY deserves to be raped PERIOD!

Great discussion by all… God bless you all.

John
 
Captain_America said:
Those who make jokes about this are part of the problem.
Click to expand...
Amen to that! I’m disgusted when I hear jokes like that. Even on CAF, sadly, there have been jokes and comments like “have fun in prison!”

While it is a problem, I have read studies that demonstrated it is overstated in popular culture. I also asked the Deacon at our parish, who does a lot of prison ministry, if it does happen as much as they show on TV and joke about, and he said it doesn’t happen as often as they make it out to. He did agree that joking about such violence is despicable, and that steps should be taken so it never happens.
 
Ive never been to prison, so I cant say for 100% sure, but I did have a good friend who did 7 years in a KY state prison, pretty sure it was NOT a federal prison ( I think there is a HUGE difference though). He said for the most part, this kind of thing was not that common, He said how a prisoner is treated is based off what crimes they committed, murderers are almost glorified, and are not messed with, thefts, robberies, crimes over money, drug crimes, weapons offenses, they are all fairly ‘well respected’ in the prison population, but when it comes to those who harm women, kids or animals, those are the people, the other inmates go after, but usually with violence, not rape.

He did say there was a certain number of gay prisoners, but they kept to themselves, and apparently was enough of them, for them to not need to go out raping other non-homosexual inmates.

I know this is second hand info, and from one guy, from one state, but what he told me seems logical.
 
mikekle said:
He did say there was a certain number of gay prisoners, but they kept to themselves, and apparently was enough of them, for them to not need to go out raping other non-homosexual inmates.
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Statistically, it’s usually the other way around. Homosexual and transsexual prisoners are much more likely to be sexually assaulted on average, so much so that some prisons separate them from the general population. In fact, it’s not unknown for strait prisoners to lie about being gay so as to get separated from the main population and therefore decrease chances of sexual assault.

Rape isn’t about lust so much as it is about domination and control.
 
I agree that this is an issue that surprisingly isn’t brought up as much as the alleged epidemic of rape on college campuses. I used to work with kids in juvenile halls who would then be transferred to a normal state prison when they turned 18. It just broke my heart to hear about these boys getting raped and there was nothing I could do about it. The prison industry is such a different (and increasingly lucrative) world, and I wish I knew what could be done about it.
 
Inmates who rape other inmates must be confined in different cells immediatly!

If there are real cases, and none voice this, then it is another pasture for a good ministry for the church in US to visit the prisons where there are real rape cases to voice this.

If people of authority uninformed or can’t find any evidence, because both inmates and prison guards too affraid to make report, then this probably the reason why no action taken. 🤷

In order to make significant changes, it takes real evidence, real statistic numbers, and sometimes third party (such as the church ministry) to help voice it.
 
sunburst2014 said:
I wish I knew what could be done about it.
Click to expand...
Why not just add saltpeter (chemical castration) to their chow? Reason alone won’t work with this crew.

For readers, saltpeter doesn’t actually work but there are other chemicals that do.
 
BornInMarch said:
Statistically, it’s usually the other way around. Homosexual and transsexual prisoners are much more likely to be sexually assaulted on average, so much so that some prisons separate them from the general population. In fact, it’s not unknown for strait prisoners to lie about being gay so as to get separated from the main population and therefore decrease chances of sexual assault.

Rape isn’t about lust so much as it is about domination and control.
Click to expand...
Transwoman of color are 10x as likely to be sexually assaulted in prison and frequently them being arrested is because of anti-trans bias for example a transwoman of color with condoms in her purse is often assumed to be a prostitute in other cases where transwomen of color defend themselves they get locked up.
 
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