According to the American National Prison Rape Elimination Commission, about 60,000 inmates are raped and sexually abused each year in the United States.
The commission quotes a 2007 study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics which found out that more prisoners reported abuse by staff than by other prisoners.
"Individuals who are incarcerated have basic human rights," said Reggie Walton, chairman of the commission. "Just because they've committed a crime and they're incarcerated does not mean that their human dignity can be abused."
The commission calls for urgent measures aimed at reducing prison rapes. One of the recommended measures is cutting federal money to states that fail to take steps to protect their inmates.
With only 5 percent of the world's population, the United States houses nearly 25 percent of the world's prisoners. Local, state, and federal spending on corrections amounts to about $70 billion per year.
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Comments: 14
Eeeek - that makes the U.S. rape center of the world, by far !!!
You are right! South Africa is called a "rape capital of the world," but now that these numbers are released, I think the US tops South Africa...
Savo,
Before making such an interesting statement, I recommend some reading:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8107039.stm
Wish that when these numbers are released it would reduce crime - if people knew they would get raped in prison maybe they would stop getting themselves sent there. God knows the cable tv, weight rooms, computers, college classes, and everything else criminals get while incarcerated is not enough of a deterrant! Sorry - I am feeling a bit snarky this morning!
Obviously there is something fundamentally wrong with our society. No amount of improved prison conditions is going to correct this situation.
A caged animal is still an animal. Society is the breeding ground for this anti social behavior. We need to grow up socially and resist doing it. Those who insist on clinging to our primitive past as voiced in the Bible are responsible for this mess. Until people in general come around to realizing that man is an evolving creature (like all other creatures) and accept religious guidance as also evolving we will continue suffering the conditions of primitive society.
Good insight.
Religious guidence? Sadly a lot of so-called people of religion are responsible for rapes too. I don't think "religion" is going to fix this problem either.
Also, it is not widely known that male on rape (not in prison) accounts for about 10% of reported rapes. I have a post about this on Gather.
The
THe way these big he man complain about gays when they are on the outside, you would think that they would have no part in raping another man, even if they are in prison... This just shows how barbaric humans are ... I wish there were away that they could give them medicine to make them not interested in sex.....
Unfortunately, rape, even in prison, is not only about sexual satisfaction, it is also about power, domination, and control. I don't think that medicine would be the answer in this scenario.
This is such a sad situation. I know that many people write inmates off, they feel, I think, much like they get what they deserve. Not everyone in prison is a murderer or a convicted rapist, and not everyone is even actually guilty.
According to this paper, less than one percent of prisons in the US make condoms available to the prisoners. I recently read another article discussing the effect of 'revolving door' prisoners picking up STDs while incarcerated then spreading them about when they're released, picking up a new STD and bringing it back to the prison. I know that much of this is due to consensual sex in prison, but rape does compound the situation.
Your probably correct Shannon, I just think its so barbaric that someone can degrade another human being in this manner...
Would it be a violation to make some form of chastity belt a part of the prison uniform?