The Assault Of Sexually Assault Female Inmates

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).

women has increased significantly, increasing at a rate double to the rate of male incarceration since 1980 (Covington & Bloom, 2006). Braithwaite, Treadwell and Arriola note that incarcerated women have historically been a forgotten population, and despite the rapid growth of the population, their needs have continued to be ignored (2005). In addition to the stigma that comes with being or having been incarcerated,

The issue of sexual assault in correctional facilities is very complex and the implications reach far beyond the walls of the institution. Congress found that “prison rape endangers the public’s safety by making brutalized inmates more likely to commit crimes when they are released.”

Punctuated by centuries of discrimination, oppression, and the outright mishandling of justice, the rights of women in prisons has been historically mauled by an unprecedented legal negligence. Without the equality and prioritization that was granted to their male counterparts, it took decades of malpractice before women had any form of safety or security in prisons at all.

Male prisoners also continue to make up the majority of the prison population. However, women prisoner rates have been on the rise and have exceeded that of male growth rates since 1995. In fact, due to the increase of the women prison population, various issues have arisen which require women to be treated differently from men. Such issues correctional facility’s face because of this increase include program delivery, housing conditions, medical care, staffing, and security (American Corrections, 2016). These problems are in part due to the different social and economic differences women are faced with in prison and while preparing for their release back to society.

Within society, there is an engrained belief of what makes a person a legitimate victim and often their status as a ‘victim’ is questioned. This is especially true if the victim does not fit the typical stereotype of who is considered to be a legitimate victim. This is most widely illustrated in cases involving male victims of sexual assault.

It is no secret that the United States’ criminal justice system is majorly flawed in more ways than one. We hear of all of the injustice that many civilians face on a day to day basis, which mostly surrounds the problems related to men, but what about women? Why don’t we hear about the tribulations and sufferings that our women undergo on a day to day basis within our criminal justice system? As mentioned in an article from the American Jail Association, investigation in fields ranging from subjects of general and mental health, substance abuse and addiction relating to drugs and prescriptions, and physical violence against women combined with examination and practice in the criminal justice field, have discovered that women offenders experience challenges that are not only different from their male counterparts, but also greatly influence their involvement in criminal justice systems, including jails and prisons (Ney, 2014). This information alone provides a basis to why imprisoned women should be more of a topic. This literature review will examine the several ways in which women who are incarcerated experience emotional trauma; and in some ways, abuse. My hypothesis is that most of the trauma encountered by incarcerated women majorly branches from preceding events and occurrences that happened prior to becoming imprisoned, and that they worsen as a result of improper treatment and resources within

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.

In many countries, the female prison population has increased dramatically over the last years. This has generated widespread awareness in our society, leading people to question why the percentage multiplied exponentially. In the past, female offenders have not only been compared to their male counterparts, but to society’s view of the role of women; this role categorized them as housewives and mothers. But how did these housewives and mothers go from the home to the prisons? In most countries, women represent a minority of the prison population: normally between 2% and 8%. There are now more than 600,000 women behind bars and more than one million on probation and parole, (Bastick and Townhead 2008) most of these women are sentenced to prison for non-violent crimes. Many of these women in prison struggle with substance abuse, mental illness, and histories of physical and sexual abuse. According to the researchers Bastick and Townhead, all over the world women in prison suffer from intersecting

Simply because inmates are smaller, weaker, or more intimidated by the cell and cellmates they are assigned, they are ultimately categorized as “victims” of these ghastly assaults and thus, their “femininity” determines their fate. Despite the high number of these crimes committed each year, the flawed system in which these facilities are run have yet to truly recognize the danger and harm that is placed upon these male prisoners. Joanne Mariner’s article is therefore an effective attempt to spark reform within the system; just because these inmates have been convicted of crimes does not mean they should not get the proper treatment and justice they too deserve.

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

Prison Rape is no secret in today’s society. The American media has portrayed prison rape as a joke (Don’t drop the soap) in countless films, television shows, and in music, but have not realized the extent of how dangerous this crime is. Some cops even use this method as a means to get a confession from a suspect. A major obstacle in solving Prison rape is the notorious under-reporting of the crime. Only 16 percent of prison rape victims report their victimization. Reasons for under reporting are fear of consequences, shame, guilt, embarrassment, and refuse to relive painful details. This paper explores prison rape and its psychological and physical harm to not only inmates, but to society as well. It also discusses recent efforts to

Assessing the consequences of our country’s soaring imprison rates has less to do with the question of guilt versus innocence than it does with the question of who among us truly deserves to go to prison and face the restrictive and sometimes brutally repressive conditions found there. We are adding more than one thousand prisoners to our prison and jail systems every single week. The number of women in prisons and jails has reached a sad new milestone. As women become entangled with the war on drugs, the number in prison has increased if not double the rate of incarceration for men. The impact of their incarceration devastates thousands of children, who lose their primary caregiver when Mom goes to prison.

For centuries the general public have perceived that the deep horrors of the prison system only existed within the majority of incarcerated male inmates. However now due to recent investigations researchers are finding that this is not the case. For a lengthened period of time the female prison system have been given low attention in comparison to male inmates

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