# Prison Rape **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 22, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-rape/589982 "2011-07-22T14:02:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![keeganst94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@keeganst94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeganst94)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-rape/589982/1 "2011-07-22T14:02:24Z")
According to the Department of Justice an estimated 216 000 prisoners are raped in the U.S, believe it or not usually by the guards. [Source](http://reason.com/archives/2011/06/20/rape-factories). So, what do we do about that? ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-rape/589982/2 "2011-07-22T14:12:59Z")
> [@keeganst94](#): > > According to the Department of Justice an estimated 216 000 prisoners are raped in the U.S, believe it or not usually by the guards. [Source](http://reason.com/archives/2011/06/20/rape-factories). > > So, what do we do about that? Stop putting so many people in there, for one. Less overcrowding = fewer opportunities. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-rape/589982/3 "2011-07-22T14:15:32Z")
That article misstates or massages the Department of Justice figures. The actually number is 88,500, [according to the DOJ](http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/svpjri0809.pdf). However, the part about Holder’s refusal to implement the PREA Commission’s recommendations is true, and it pissed a lot of people off. As far as what we do about it, we can’t really do anything. Voters don’t care about prison conditions, and hence Congress and the states aren’t interested in spending money on prisons (other than to build them). To eliminate prison sex abuse, you need lots of money to hire more and better trained personnel, IMHO. Paging **Little Nemo** and **Quadgop the Misspelled**. ETA: It’s also true that most of the abuse is by staff rather than other inmates, although the article is misleading because it implies that this is true for both women and men; it’s only true for men. ---
**Author:** ![David42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@David42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David42)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-rape/589982/4 "2011-07-22T14:18:23Z")
First we reduce prison populations so that the non-violent are released. Burglars and those who commit serious thefts can stay behind bars with the violent. Property crimes are generally as serious as violence. After that with the savings we put cameras everywhere in the prisons. We make sure the signals are routed to multiple drives. One drive to be monitored by prison employees, at least one other goes to the attorneys general of each state and or the department of Justice; at least one other citizens are given access too so they can oversee any loved ones in prison, or make it available online. Finally write laws that severely punish anyone who looks the other way or fails to act. These laws need to be presumptive that if the act was caught on camera and the warden did nothing, then he is guilty as an accomplice. That should eliminate most of it. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-rape/589982/5 "2011-07-22T14:20:44Z")
I’m guessing that shooting prison rapists is not an option. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-rape/589982/6 "2011-07-22T14:22:17Z")
Who is going to be _watching_ all these cameras? ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-rape/589982/7 "2011-07-22T14:27:49Z")
I’m sure that there’s a Rule 34 category to cover it. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-rape/589982/8 "2011-07-22T14:34:26Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > ETA: It’s also true that most of the abuse is by staff rather than other inmates, although the article is misleading because it implies that this is true for both women and men; it’s only true for men. Are you saying that most men who are raped are raped by staff? That seems counterintuitive. I’m not saying it isn’t true but it seems odd. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-rape/589982/9 "2011-07-22T14:35:27Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > ETA: It’s also true that most of the abuse is by staff rather than other inmates, although the article is misleading because it implies that this is true for both women and men; it’s only true for men. You mean there’s no sexual agression/rape from female wardens on female prisoners? Sounds weird to me. Where do you get that from? ---
**Author:** ![keeganst94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@keeganst94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeganst94)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-rape/589982/10 "2011-07-22T14:39:04Z")
All of your proposed solutions would seem to make things better, but is their the political will for it? Politicians seem to want to appear tough on crime and most solutions would require a lot of money to implement, in a time when America may very well default. That makes me think no. Does anyone actually see any being taken in the near future? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-rape/589982/11 "2011-07-22T14:40:19Z")
> [@](#): > > Are you saying that most men who are raped are raped by staff? Exactly that. If you look at the link to the [DOJ figures](http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/svpjri0809.pdf), only 34,000 male inmates reported being assaulted by inmates (page 21). 53,000 male inmates reported being assaulted by staff (p. 22). For women, the numbers are 12,000 and 16,000, respectively. It does seem counter-intuitive, but I strongly suspect the reasons are (1) less overcrowding in womens’ correctional facilities, and (2) much closer oversight of female prisoners. ---
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-rape/589982/12 "2011-07-22T14:46:49Z")
What is the connection between overcrowding and increased rape? ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-rape/589982/13 "2011-07-22T14:47:58Z")
> [@emacknight](#): > > What is the connection between overcrowding and increased rape? Dick room. ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-rape/589982/14 "2011-07-22T14:54:37Z")
As sad as it is to say, I don’t think this will get any public support at all. I think the consensus among a lot of people (not me) is that if you’re getting raped in prison, “maybe you shouldn’t have done X crime and you wouldn’t BE in prison…”. So, any movement to improve prison conditions has very little public support. Take for instance the supreme court order for CA prisons to improve conditions or release large numbers of convicts. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-rape/589982/15 "2011-07-22T15:00:09Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Exactly that. If you look at the link to the [DOJ figures](http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/svpjri0809.pdf), only 34,000 male inmates reported being assaulted by inmates (page 21). 53,000 male inmates reported being assaulted by staff (p. 22). I think an inmate would be a lot more likely to claim to have been raped by a guard than to snitch on another inmate. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-rape/589982/16 "2011-07-22T15:02:06Z")
> [@ladyfoxfyre](#): > > As sad as it is to say, I don’t think this will get any public support at all. I think the consensus among a lot of people (not me) is that if you’re getting raped in prison, “maybe you shouldn’t have done X crime and you wouldn’t BE in prison…”. . I agree. However, people are getting sentenced to incarceration, not rape, a point that doesn’t seem to be getting across. It’s the United States, not Pakistan where people _do_ get sentenced to rape. ---
**Author:** ![David42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@David42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David42)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-rape/589982/17 "2011-07-22T15:12:12Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Who is going to be _watching_ all these cameras? 1. Prison guards (with savings from release of the non-violent more can be devoted to this task) 2.AGs/DOJ (reviews) 2. The public online. I do believe I explained that. ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-rape/589982/18 "2011-07-22T15:20:36Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > I agree. However, people are getting sentenced to incarceration, not rape, a point that doesn’t seem to be getting across. It’s the United States, not Pakistan where people _do_ get sentenced to rape. Then there needs to be more effort to get the point across that it’s a much more prevalent problem than people think. Is the US unique in the prevalence of prison rape or is it very common in other (more civilized) countries? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-rape/589982/19 "2011-07-22T15:24:00Z")
> [@furt](#): > > Stop putting so many people in there, for one. Less overcrowding = fewer opportunities. Oh, so we just slap them on the wrist and let them continue pillaging society at large? That’s worked out well for us so far, hasn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-rape/589982/20 "2011-07-22T15:27:15Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > I think an inmate would be a lot more likely to claim to have been raped by a guard than to snitch on another inmate. Doubtful. Everyone knows prisoners are the most litigious people on earth, but the DOJ figures are based on direct surveys, not on the number of complaints filed. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prison-rape/589982.md?page=2)