Feminist Theory On Sexual Violence

…the BJS found that 4.5 percent of the nation’s prisoners, i.e., inmates who have been convicted of felonies and sentenced to more than a year, had been sexually abused in the facilities at which they answered the questionnaire during the preceding year: approximately 60,500 people. Moreover, 3.2 percent of jail inmates—i.e., people who were awaiting trial or serving short sentences—had been sexually abused in their facilities over the preceding six months, meaning an estimated total, out of those jailed on the day of the survey, of 24,700

It is dreadful enough to get raped, but having to see your perpetrator every day and possibly raping you again is a constant fear that many inmates have to encounter. According to the Bureau of Justice (BJS), in 2008 correctional administrators reported 7,444 allegations of sexual abuse in prisons. About 46 % of the sexual abuse involved staff with inmates. But these statistics do not include the many cases that go unreported due to victim’s fear of being punished by their perpetrators and/ or to embarrassment and humiliation that comes with rape. Although prison rape is prevalent, many individuals find it normal and even find it a laughing matter. Prison rape is abnormal and has huge consequences if not dealt with. Some of the

The Bureau of Justice Statistics conducted a survey of prisoners from over 300 parole offices in 40 states with 17,738 prisoners participating and a 61% response rate (Beck & Johnson, 2012). The focus of the survey is sexual victimization during the entire length of the prison term served by each inmate. In all, 9.6 percent of former state prisoners, or 2,096, reported one or more events during their most recent time in prisons, jails or community-treatment facilities. To create national level statistics, the number was weighted and applied to total 49,000 prisoners nationwide or 9.6 percent of all underactive supervision at the middle of the year 2008. Therefore, the unit of analysis is each individual of the incarcerated prison population of the United States.

Contrary to popular belief sexually transmitted diseases are not the only physical harm victims of prison rape endure. Many rape victims endure broken bones, broken noses, bruises, cuts, concussions, and the obvious genital injuries. Sexual assaults also increases violent behavior in prisons because inmates who feel like they may be a future target of sexually assault, defend themselves, and lash out in these violent rages and fights to establish themselves with a “tough guy” reputation to prevent any sexual misconduct from other inmates.

Furthering the belief that women cannot be violent, another major distinction between male and female sex offender typologies is the Male- Coerced or Male-Accompanied typology. This typology involves either a passive woman who abuses due to an abusive male partner or a male-female couple who both equally abuse (Vandiver & Kercher). There are many issues involved with these typologies. The first issue is that the male becomes primarily responsible for the abuse instead of the female. In the situation of a passive woman whose abusive partner forces her to abuse, the victims of the abuse are most often their own children.

Sexual victimization has become a growing issue throughout prisons in the United States. In 2011, correctional administrators reported over 8,763 allegations of sexual assault within correctional facilities (Beck et. al, 2014). 52% of these reports were sexual victimization of inmates only and 48% were incidents involved staff on inmates (Beck et. al, 2014). The Bureau of Justice classifies each sexual act that is conducted in prison by perpetrator staff or inmate and type of acts. There are currently four types of sexual victimization that occurs in prison, jails and other adult correctional facilities. These four include inmate-on-inmate nonconsensual sexual acts, inmate-on-inmate abusive sexual contacts, staff sexual misconduct and staff sexual

Sexual abuse is defined as “unwanted sexual activity, with perpetrators using force, making threats or taking advantage of victims not able to give consent.” A man or women forcefully having sexual intercourse with females in the prison system is sadly not something unheard of. Women are the most subjected to sexual abuse in the prison systems around the United States of America. “According to Human Rights Watch at least 15 percent of incarcerated females have been the victims of prison sexual assault.” There are over 200,000 females in the United States of America that are imprisoned and 15 percent of them are being sexually abused just because of their sexuality.

But for the 199,000 women in U.S. prisons and jails, and the 950,000 on probation and parole, that's simply not the case.” (Clark, 2009) Now even though there women in prison are not subjected to as much violence and gang activity as men are they do face some disadvantages. With the number of female inmates increasing so is the cases of sexual misconduct against male correctional officers. It is not something that happens at every female prison but it is alarming to know how much this type of activity does indeed take place. This type of misconduct creates major problems for the prison as well as all that are involved. “Sexual misconduct includes many behaviors such as assault, abuse, harassment and contact of a sexual nature.” (Clear, Reisig & Cole,

Participants. Seven thousand thirty two adult male inmates and one thousand nine hundred thirty six security staff members will be randomly recruited from the Department of Correction (DOC) from seven (Prison 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) midwestern prison facilities to participate in a sexual assault survey. The participating prisons will remain anonymous. Sample: Prison 1-maximum security population 1,077 inmates, 557 staff, prison 2-maximum- medium-minimum population 1,680 inmates, 395 staff, prison 3- maximum security population 1,150 inmates, 370 staff, prison 4- maximum- medium-minimum population 890 inmates, 220 staff, prison 5- long term segregation maximum security population 952 inmates, 280 staff, prison 6-

Sexual assault in jail serves as a way to show one’s control and domination (Guerrero, 2008, p.30). Some prisoners are lacking the expression of their sexuality and become dominant over other inmates (Struckman-Johnson, 2013, p.444). Others do it because of their dislike of another prisoner. Such dislike can be based on racial background, which is a major issue in prisons, because people, whose race is dominant in the prison tend to be predators and sexualy violate other prisoners (Wolff, 2008, p. 466). Furthermore, other reasons for sexual assault can be sexuality of a person or age. Younger people or gays tend to report more cases of sexual assault than other groups of inmates (Wolff, 2008, p. 465). Since it has always been a big issue for the society, there were various methods used in order to try to prevent it. Clearly they are not properly working, because it remains to be today’s issue (Struckman-Johnson, 201, p. 430).

It is noted in research that women inmates are seven times more likely to experience sexual abuse, and four times more likely to experience physical abuse compared to male offenders (CASA, 2010). According to the research of Chesney-Lind and Pasko (2004) every 15 seconds a woman is beaten, and in the year 1999 85% of domestic violence victims were in fact women. In a qualitative Canadian study on women who use drugs and work in the sex trade, it was found that men condone their use of drugs by supplying them, and support their work in the sex trade. It was noted that in these relationships “violence - both physical and sexual - is common and the experience of and the threat of violence serves to marginalize women further” (Azim, Bontell and Strathdee, 2015, p.17). An interesting perspective on the victimization of women offenders is noted by Grant (2007) where she refers to the victimization of female offenders not only in the general society, but within the criminal justice system in correctional facilities. She articulates the victimization of women by male guards in prisons, in which case “some women are coerced into sex for favors such as extra food or personal hygiene products, or to avoid punishment” (p.138). Grant (2007) in her research articulates how the victimization of women is essentially overlooked in prison, she refers to the Bureau of Justice Statistics showing that women are overrepresented in comparison to other populations in prison to be victims of sexual abuse, making up 46% of victims of abusive sexual contacts in state prisons, and 28% in local jails. Due to the overt existence of the victimization of women offender’s drug abuse may be used as a coping strategy for these women. (Voorhis, Wright, Salisbury, and Bauman,

Prisons are not traditional environments. They are ‘total institutions’ in the sense that they encompass inmates’ lives to an extent qualitatively greater than any other total institution. Prisons administer troubled human beings, who often bear long histories of violence as either offender or victim, into confined spaces against their wills and these individuals are brought into close contact with prison staff and other inmates, which often results in many forms of violence. This paper will examine the violence and victimization that occurs in prisons by focusing on inmate-on-inmate sexual violence, staff-on-inmate sexual violence, and physical violence and their prevalence in men’s and women’s prisons.

Sexual violence is a significant social and cultural problem within America and all over the world. Within the United States nearly 1 in 5 women – or nearly 22 million – have been raped in their lifetimes. Arrest rates for sexual assault cases are low as they are hard to investigate because of the effects of the trauma itself. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, approximately 12% of the 283,200 annual rape or sexual assault victimizations from year 2005-2010 resulted in an arrest at the scene or during a follow-up investigation. Findings from the same survey revealed that more than one-third of women reported experiencing a sexual assault at some point during their lifetime. Within American society, rape constitutes an experience

" The New England journal of medicine 356.2 (2007): 105-8. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 19 Nov. 2012 VanNatta, M. (2010). Conceptualizing and stopping state sexual violence against incarcerated women.

Domestic violence is an issue in almost every corner in the world. It is a public health and human rights issue. The accepted levels of violence have changed with history and varies between societies. Here in the United States, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, on average nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused. 1 in 3 women have been victims of physical violence from an intimate partner. The presence of a gun increases the risk of homicide by 500%. On average 3 women are killed each day by an intimate partner, Intimate partner violence is 15% of all violent crime. An analysis done by Every Town for Gun Safety found that 54% of mass shootings were related to domestic or family violence. This paper will be looking at the problem of domestic violence in the United States through the sociological conflict feminist theory.