# Why don't prison rape victims just "lock up"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 17, 2004, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-prison-rape-victims-just-lock-up/269724 "2004-10-17T22:07:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Roches](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bc8723/32.png) [@Roches](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roches)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-prison-rape-victims-just-lock-up/269724/21 "2004-10-18T04:45:54Z")
Sampiro: I was once handed a flyer on spending by the Canadian federal prison system by someone representing a union of correctional officers. The idea was to establish that the prison system spends a lot of money on things for prisoners, but that correctional officers are paid poorly. One of the items was money spent to provide condoms to prisoners. (I suppose they would be intended for conjugal visits and consensual activity, at least in theory.) Distributing condoms to federal prisoners may seem excessively liberal to many, but it could ultimately save more tax money than it cost by reducing the incidence of STDs and unwanted pregnancies. Another item on the flyer was funding for preoperative therapy, hormones and therapy for transsexual prisoners. These things are not covered by public health insurance here, and I have a feeling most private insurance policies don’t cover them either. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-prison-rape-victims-just-lock-up/269724/22 "2004-10-18T04:57:16Z")
> [@choie](#): > > It’s probably just me being uptight, but the somewhat ‘lighthearted’ tone to this thread is a bit unsettling. I hope the OP didn’t come off as lighthearted. If so, I apologize. This is a topic that genuinely bothers me and I find myself feeling disturbed just reading this thread. However, I’m curious, and this is the Straight Dope. Like Guinistasia, I’m very curious as to how common it is. ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-prison-rape-victims-just-lock-up/269724/23 "2004-10-18T05:09:54Z")
Wouldn’t the best defense against a prison rape be to not poop very often and then release it all on the perpetrator? I’m pretty sure that in women’s self-defense classes they teach them to puke, pee, or crap as a good defense mechanism. This is hearsey though, as I haven’t attended 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![PaulFitzroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@PaulFitzroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulFitzroy)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-prison-rape-victims-just-lock-up/269724/24 "2004-10-18T05:37:55Z")
What if you just told the would-be rapists that you were a practicing homosexual and that you had tested positive for HIV/AIDS? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-prison-rape-victims-just-lock-up/269724/25 "2004-10-18T05:50:29Z")
> [@PaulFitzroy](#): > > What if you just told the would-be rapists that you were a practicing homosexual and that you had tested positive for HIV/AIDS? Actually, I’d be willing to bet that some of the rapists already have AIDs? And some of the sickos probably wouldn’t care. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-prison-rape-victims-just-lock-up/269724/26 "2004-10-18T05:55:58Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > And some of the sickos probably wouldn’t care. Some of the lifers might even think, “Cool, my sentence just got reduced.” ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-prison-rape-victims-just-lock-up/269724/27 "2004-10-18T05:58:48Z")
I don’t think the rapist is going to climb under the covers and snuggle with you before the act. You will probably be attacked by 2 or 3 guys, holding you down, grabbing your balls, punching you, choking you, laughing at you, maybe even pissing on you. It wouldn’t be a night you would want to remember. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-prison-rape-victims-just-lock-up/269724/28 "2004-10-18T09:07:37Z")
> [@alterego](#): > > I’m pretty sure that in women’s self-defense classes they teach them to puke, pee, or crap as a good defense mechanism. I’ve attended. No, they don’t “teach” you to do any such thing. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-prison-rape-victims-just-lock-up/269724/29 "2004-10-18T09:35:46Z")
[A Doper prison guard](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=2959084) answers such questions. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-prison-rape-victims-just-lock-up/269724/30 "2004-10-18T13:18:26Z")
> [@PaulFitzroy](#): > > What if you just told the would-be rapists that you were a practicing homosexual and that you had tested positive for HIV/AIDS? I don’t think openly gay persons, or those people who claim to be gay, are treated too well in prison. Probably not something too many gay men are willing to announce it and still expect to be left alone afterwards. Maybe they could get out of being raped but I bet they’d still get beaten up, and probably more often now that everyone knows they’re gay. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-prison-rape-victims-just-lock-up/269724/31 "2004-10-18T13:24:53Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > As someone who has masturbated in the shower and naively used soap a few times I can say this is not totally true. The stinging wears off after a few hours. Is this where we’re supposed to resurrect The Toothpaste Incident? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-prison-rape-victims-just-lock-up/269724/32 "2004-10-18T14:02:06Z")
> [@Roches](#): > > Distributing condoms to federal prisoners may seem excessively liberal to many, but it could ultimately save more tax money than it cost by reducing the incidence of STDs and **unwanted pregnancies**. :eek: :eek: :eek: ---
**Author:** ![PaulFitzroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@PaulFitzroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulFitzroy)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-prison-rape-victims-just-lock-up/269724/33 "2004-10-18T14:41:35Z")
Well, then you could say you were a heroin user and got AIDS that way. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-prison-rape-victims-just-lock-up/269724/34 "2004-10-18T14:50:37Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Third, why don’t the victims just “lock up”? Probably the same reason female rape victims don’t ☹ ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-prison-rape-victims-just-lock-up/269724/35 "2004-10-18T15:40:32Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I’ve attended. > > No, they don’t “teach” you to do any such thing. I don’t understand your usage of “teach”. If they aren’t teaching women to do this in rape situations they should start. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-prison-rape-victims-just-lock-up/269724/36 "2004-10-18T15:44:18Z")
> [@alterego](#): > > I don’t understand your usage of “teach”. If they aren’t teaching women to do this in rape situations they should start. **alterego** , as a veteran of several self-defence classes, a good, swift kick or hit in a very well-chosen place is much more effective than all the poop, pee, or excrement in the world–trust me. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-prison-rape-victims-just-lock-up/269724/37 "2004-10-18T15:52:46Z")
They don’t teach you to do any thing like poop, or pee. I took them, too. What they do, more than teach you any physical self-defence things, is to give you **confidence**. Too many women are still shy, afraid to make a scene, etc., etc. They teach you to scream, shout, yell, kick, punch. They teach you to turn and point to someone and say “You! Call 911! I’m being kidnapped!” or whatever. They teach you to give orders “Get away from me!” They teach you how to summon your air up to shout loud. They teach you self-awareness and then they teach you the moves. Pooping and peeing really won’t help, I don’t think - I mean, the self-defence courses are about not getting kidnapped in the first place, and it would just be in your clothes! ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-prison-rape-victims-just-lock-up/269724/38 "2004-10-18T15:59:52Z")
If the situation has reached the point where the person is being overpowered and rape is imminent, puking, peeing or pooping all over yourself seems to me a sound viable exit-strategy. It would not be 100% effective but it would definitely make the rapist think twice. I have just e-mailed a prominent women’s self-defense teacher for her opinion on the matter. If she respons i’ll let you know what she says. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-prison-rape-victims-just-lock-up/269724/39 "2004-10-18T16:11:20Z")
I’d think it’s somewhat easy to make yourself throw up but how do people force themselves to urinate or defecate if they don’t have to go? Particularly the latter. Even if you “have” to pee, try doing it sometime in a non-bathroom type place. It’s hard to unlearn years of bladder control. In my opinion, all that would do is get a rapist mad. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-prison-rape-victims-just-lock-up/269724/40 "2004-10-18T16:15:43Z")
> [@alterego](#): > > If the situation has reached the point where the person is being overpowered and rape is imminent, puking, peeing or pooping all over yourself seems to me a sound viable exit-strategy. It would not be 100% effective but it would definitely make the rapist think twice. I have just e-mailed a prominent women’s self-defense teacher for her opinion on the matter. If she respons i’ll let you know what she says. I honestly think it would just infuriate the rapist even more. Rape isn’t always about someone forcing themselves on someone else because the victim is attractive; it’s also sometimes about power or revenge for a (perceived) slight. Apologies if this isn’t what you were getting at, but I don’t think defecating / vomiting is a viable strategy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-prison-rape-victims-just-lock-up/269724.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-prison-rape-victims-just-lock-up/269724.md?page=3)