Prison Rape Elimination Act

assault, "no means no." She also introduced the rape shield law, legislation that protects a person's sexual past from being explored during trial.

sexual assault, the authors made a few assumptions about the knowledge of the reader. One

IN a twenty year period there was little evidence to suggest cocorrectional prisons are effective in benefiting female prisoners (Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). In fact, males have exploited most females before entering prison, and these females continue being exploited in current coed facilities (Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). Surprisingly, even though single sex prisons have poor results, there is no support to change this format (Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015).

For our research proposal, we have chosen to analyze a topic that hits fairly close to home for the three of us. This paper will look at the social condition of sexual assault concerning college aged females on public Texas University property. The paper will mimic the style of a grant, as if we were an organization looking to get funds to implement a program that would help decrease this problem in our community. The problem of sexual assault is a very broad topic; under it falls everything from forced sexual intercourse, to child molestation, to fondling. In order to make our research more accurate, we have chosen to reduce the definition of sexual assault down to just forced intercourse, or in other terms, rape. We have found a

Last week, the White House released a short, celebrity packed, 60-second public service announcement (PSA) on the topic of sexual assault. 1 is 2 Many addressed those who are in control of preventing sexual assault as its intended audience was those who can put a stop to sexual violence: the perpetrators or would-be offenders. Although this one minute announcement completed the task of bringing sexual assault to the forefront of discussion, it failed to encompass the central issues concerning the culture of sexual assault: societal misperceptions, the victims, and the justice system. Sexual assault is a phenomenon that has been around for centuries; the culture of sexual assault is rooted in both legal practices and societal perceptions.

Bush signed the “Second Chance Act of 2007.” This act required that all federal correctional facilities document and report, and justify on security grounds the use of physical restraints on pregnant inmates before, during and after labor and delivery (Dignam, B. & Adashi, E.Y., 2014). Due to the amount of sexual and physical abuse a woman endures during her time outside the prison, random searches and restraints often trigger PTSD symptoms (Zust, B., 2009). The Federal Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Marshal Service, and the American Correctional Association have all adopted policies to limit the use of shackles on pregnant prisoners (American Civil Liberties Union, unknown). The shackling of pregnant women has created legal challenges and even more challenges for the defense of human rights. The majority of legal cases that have went through the legal system based on the shackling of pregnant inmates were based on the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting “cruel and unusual punishment” (Dignam, B. & Adashi, E.Y., 2014). In 1993, a class action suit by women inmates was filed against the District of Columbia; Women prisoners of District of Columbia of Columbia Dept. of Corrections v. District of Columbia (Dignam, B. & Adashi, E.Y., 2014). This was the first case to challenge Dept. of Corrections and their policy on the shackling of pregnant inmates. Federal District Judge June L. Green, strongly expresses her disapproval of shackling female prisoners during pregnancy and the labor process. The judge concluded that shackling pregnant prisoners during their last month of pregnancy and during the labor process is redundant and unacceptable (Dignam, B. & Adashi, E.Y.,

In the United States every two minutes there is someone that is sexually assaulted. In the state of Texas, every 2 in 5 women and every 1 in 5 men have been sexually assaulted. According to TAASA.org, it is reported that “6.3 million Texans have experienced some form of sexual assault in their lifetime.” In 2011, Senate Bill 1636 was passed in Texas where it was required for rape kits to be sent to labs within 30 days. Before Senate Bill 1636, there was no law in the state of Texas that required kits to to be tested within a certain time frame. When bill 1636 was passed it was also required that there be a count on the backlog of rape kits, and it was found that there were 20,000 kits that had not been tested. After seeing that there was a

Approximately 240,000 brutal rapes occur in our prison systems each year (Lozoff). Most of the victims are young, nonviolent male inmates, many of them teenaged first offenders. They are traumatized beyond imagination. Most of these inmates are nonviolent criminals who cannot or will not defend themselves. Unfortunately, this results in many of those nonviolent offenders turning violent by the time they leave prison.

Sexual assault is a major global issue; sexual deviance such as sexual assault definitely needs a lot of social attention from many different societies across the globe (Nelson, 2007, p. 7). It is a very serious problem that needs to be continuously addressed, through research, government programs, and new fundamental treatment possibilities. As a matter of fact, it is continuing to spread rapidly with a percentage of 25% of women and 15% of men in the United States have been affected by sexual assault (Nelson, 2007, p. 7). Due to rapid growth, public awareness should be made about the different types of sex offenders. The public should be aware of their distinct characteristics and possible treatment options. Public awareness is extremely important; it allows us to know the many different kinds of people that are in this world. Different kinds of people, including sex offenders, it’s important to know what measures one would have to take and the different possible options when faced with such issues (Nelson, 2007, p. 7).

Sexual assault policy in the United States as it stands is clearly inadequate for protecting the physical wellbeing of men and women from sexual assault. Layering of policy serves a s a Band-Aid on a social wound much too large to be contained and the rise of sexual assault as a public problem reiterates the need for greater legislation and policy to protect everyone from becoming prey to the crime of sexual assault. While eyes focus on the (disproven) rise of violence in the United States, and turn to gun control, other violent crimes are forgotten. Sexual Assault has seen several cases of policy failure that actors have tried to salvage through the act of policy layering and have not significantly resolved the problem.

Rape Shield Laws Facing with much criticism from women’s group with the legal definitions of rape and how rape cases are being processed in the legal system, the government is forced to pass a Rape Law reform in the 1970s. Rape law reform urging courts to treat rape case the same as other crimes, rape law reforms modified traditional rape laws and ratified evidentiary reforms in every state in the United States. The most common and widespread changes occurred in three areas. First, rape was redefined so that there was no longer a single crime of rape.

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

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.

I choose this topic because sexual assault is one of the most offensive crimes committed in our society. Not only is it a threat to the community, but it has a physically and psychologically effect on the victim in many ways. For the last couple of decades, sexual assault, rape, and child molestation has become the focal point of public concerns today. According to a 1993 National Crime Victimization Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice, about 500,000 rapes or sexual assaults occur each year (Statistics, March 2010). The Department of Justice states that, “rape crimes have risen nearly three times as fast as the total crime rate”, although other studies have shown statistics that are in

Compared to mental health workers correctional officers are assaulted nearly twice as much (Schenk & Fremouw, 2012). Sexual violence inside of prisons is issue in which the government has put effort in to address with the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 however a study of black men was conducted and 43 % of those men indicated that they have a least heard sexual acts of violence occur inside of the prison (Rowell-Cunsolo, Harrison, & Haile, 2014). Across the United States about 4% of the inmates have been a victim of sexual assault (Daquin, Daigle, & Johnson Listwan, 2016). Other than sexual assault around 32% and up to 66% of inmates have been a victim of some type of physical violence (Daquin, Daigle, & Johnson Listwan, 2016). Also 18% to 49% of inmates have had property stolen from them (Daquin, Daigle, & Johnson Listwan, 2016). Also other factors that can contribute to violence occurring inside of prisons is gang membership. This is usually an identifier for the inmates to know who to attack and who to leave alone. Also sexual predators are subjected to some sort of violence because of the crime that landed them inside of the prison. The amount of time that you spend in prison can contribute to whether you become a victim or not (Ross, 2012). This is why prison overcrowding has become such a major problem for violence the