Stop Prisoner Rape

Where da men at!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????????????????????

juicy2008 — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:59:52 GMT

Stories

Becca — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 21:30:33 GMT

The stories Micah tells me about guys getting jumped and sexually assaulted send chills up my spine. I can't believe the stories are all true. HAs anyone else been told these types of tales?

U.S. Number One Jailer

arhunt — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 21:38:16 GMT

US: Record Numbers for World’s Leading Jailer

(Washington, DC, December 5, 2007) – New US government figures showing that the United States incarcerates more people per capita than any other country highlight the need to consider alternative criminal justice policies, Human Rights Watch said today.

Statistics released today by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), a branch of the US Department of Justice, show that at the end of 2006, more than 2.25 million persons were incarcerated in US prisons and jails, an all-time high. This number represents an incarceration rate of 751 per 100,000 US residents, the highest such rate in the world. By contrast, the United Kingdom’s incarceration rate is 148 per 100,000 residents; the rate in Canada is 107; and in France it is 85. The US rate is also substantially higher than that of Libya (217 per 100,000), Iran (212), and China (119).

“These figures confirm an unenviable record: the United States is the world’s leading prison nation,” said David Fathi, director of the US program at Human Rights Watch. “Americans should ask why the US locks up so many more of its citizens than do Canada, Britain, and other democratic countries. The US is even ahead of governments like China that use prisons as a political tool.”

The US prison population has increased approximately 500 percent in the last 30 years, and continues to grow. The 2006 increase was the largest one-year jump in the last six years. The per capita incarceration rate has also increased steadily, from 684 per 100,000 residents in 2000 to 751 per 100,000 in 2006.

The new BJS figures also show sharp racial disparities in US incarceration rates, with black men incarcerated at a rate 6.2 times higher than white men. Nearly 8 percent of all black men ages 30 to 34 in the United States were incarcerated as sentenced prisoners at the end of 2006.

Federal Statistics Show Widespread Prison Rape

arhunt — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 19:38:54 GMT

US: Federal Statistics Show Widespread Prison Rape

New Report by Justice Department Underscores Need for Zero

(New York, December 16, 2007) – New statistics compiled by a US Justice Department agency reveal that the rape and sexual abuse of prisoners by other prisoners and staff plague prisons nationwide, Human Rights Watch said today. According to the report, released today by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), “Sexual Victimization in State and Federal Prisons Reported by Inmates, 2007,” 4.5 percent of the state and federal prisoners surveyed reported sexual victimization in the past 12 months. Given a national prison population of 1,570,861, the BJS findings suggest that in one year alone more than 70,000 prisoners were sexually abused.

“When nearly one in 20 prisoners reports being raped or sexually abused behind bars, it is clear that prison authorities are not doing enough to prevent these serious crimes,” said Jamie Fellner, senior counsel of the US Program at Human Rights Watch.

“Prison rape is not inevitable, but it is all too predictable when prison authorities fail to enforce a zero-tolerance policy on sexual abuse,” noted Fellner, who also serves as a commissioner on the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission, created by Congress in 2003 as part of the National Prison Rape Elimination Act.

Some 2.1 percent of the inmates surveyed by the BJS reported sexual abuse involving another inmate. In its 2001 landmark report, “No Escape: Male Rape in US Prisons,” Human Rights Watch documented vicious and brutally violent male rapes in prison as well as other more common, less overtly violent forms of coerced sex. Certain prisoners are more vulnerable to rape and are targeted for sexual exploitation – especially prisoners who are young, physically small or weak, gay, first offenders, or have been convicted of a sexual offense against a minor.

Human Rights Watch’s research revealed that sexual abuse by other inmates often occurred because staff failed to adequately supervise inmates or respond appropriately to complaints of unwanted sexual activity. In some prisons, staff tacitly as well as explicitly condoned inmate-on-inmate abuse.

According to the BJS, five of the 10 prison facilities with the highest reported rates of inmate-on-inmate victimization are in Texas, with reported prevalence ranging from 3.3 to 8.8 percent. Texas has a crowded state prison system with a long and notorious history of prison violence, marked by staff indifference to and complicity with abuse, as documented in “No Escape.”

“Texas officials insist they have put effective anti-rape strategies in place, but the Justice Department figures show that they still have a long way to go,” Fellner said. “Prison authorities in Texas must ensure that sexual abuse is not part of an inmate’s sentence.”

Nationwide, a higher percentage of inmates, 2.9 percent, reported staff sexual misconduct than inmate-on-inmate abuse. A prison in Nebraska had the highest reported rate of staff-on-inmate sexual abuse, 12.2 percent. The BJS survey asked inmates to indicate whether their sexual activity with staff was “willing” or “unwilling.” In the prison context, however, this distinction is meaningless.

As Human Rights Watch documented in its 1996 report, “All Too Familiar: Sexual Abuse of Women in State Prisons,” all sexual interaction between staff and inmates is inherently coercive because of the inherent disparity in power between staff and inmates, and thus can never be considered “voluntary” on the part of the inmates. Human Rights Watch urges the BJS to eliminate reference to inmate willingness with regard to staff sexual misconduct in future reports.

“We welcome the careful efforts by BJS to statistically capture sexual abuse in prisons,” said Fellner. “We look forward to their efforts to document sexual victimization in other facilities, including jails and youth detention centers.”

Stop Prisoner Rape Organization Link and Information

arhunt — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 03:59:56 GMT

Stop Prisoner Rape seeks to end sexual violence committed against men, women, and youth in all forms of detention.

"The horrors experienced by many young inmates, particularly those who are convicted of nonviolent offenses, border on the unimaginable. Prison rape not only threatens the lives of those who fall prey to their aggressors, but it is potentially devastating to the human spirit. Shame, depression, and a shattering loss of self-esteem accompany the perpetual terror the victim thereafter must endure."

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun, Farmer v. Brennan

www.spr.org

An international 501(c)(3) human rights organization, Stop Prisoner Rape works to put an end to sexual violence against men, women, and youth in all forms of detention. To achieve this goal, SPR seeks to: engender policies that ensure government accountability for prisoner rape; change ill-informed and flippant public attitudes toward sexual assault behind bars; and promote access to resources for survivors of this type of violence.

To contact SPR:

Stop Prisoner Rape

3325 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 340

Los Angeles, CA 90010

Tel: 213-384-1400

Fax: 213-384-1411

E-mail: info@spr.org

Note: If you are incarcerated, please feel free to communicate with SPR using legal mail, addressing your correspondence to Ms. Melissa Rothstein, Esq.

Our Mission

A national 501(c)(3) human rights organization, SPR works to put an end to sexual violence against men, women, and youth in all forms of detention. To achieve this goal, SPR seeks to: engender policies that ensure government accountability for prisoner rape; change ill-informed and flippant public attitudes toward sexual assault behind bars; and promote access to resources for survivors of this type of violence.

Accountability

Although rape behind bars violates international, federal, and state laws, many institutions remain indifferent to the problem. Simple preventative measures are rarely taken, and reports of rape are often ignored. In the worst facilities, victims are repeatedly denied help and even retaliated against while perpetrators act with impunity.

SPR pushes for sound laws and policies that hold detention officials accountable for maintaining safe facilities and respecting basic human rights. By bringing together lawmakers, activists, survivors, and their loved ones, SPR sparks local reform and nationwide change.

Attitudes

Fighting flippant and ill-informed public attitudes about prisoner rape is a constant challenge for SPR. Many people still believe that inmates deserve to be raped. Others think that prisoner rape somehow deters crime, or that prisoner rape is irrelevant to their lives, because it happens behind bars. Some even think that prisoner rape is funny.

Each of these ideas is incorrect - dangerously so - but these misconceptions thrive because the general public knows little about the real story of prisoner rape. To combat this ignorance, SPR offers first-hand accounts of abuse from survivors and informed analysis on the issue's impact on the community. In high-profile media outlets that span the political spectrum, SPR is bringing the true face of prisoner rape to light.

Access

All victims of rape suffer in mind, body, and spirit. Unfortunately, few resources exist to help survivors of prisoner rape, who remain a marginalized and drastically underserved population. As the only organization in the U.S. devoted to this issue, survivors and their loved ones frequently turn to SPR for access to vital information and resources.

SPR's resource materials, written by experts and survivors themselves, help to end the isolation that can be so devastating in the aftermath of abuse. For SPR, promoting access means linking survivors to existing mental health and legal services and reaching out to encourage providers to serve this neglected population.

Please join in SPR's fight to support safety, dignity, and human rights for all.