Prison rape in the United States

Prison rape commonly refers to the rape of inmates in prison by other inmates or prison staff. According to Human Rights Watch, there is a significant variation in the rates of prison rape by race. Stop Prisoner Rape, Inc. statistics indicate that there are more men raped in U.S. prisons than non-incarcerated women similarly assaulted. They estimate that 25,000 inmates are raped each year; that young men are five times more likely to be attacked; and that the prison rape victims are ten times more likely to contract a deadly disease.

Ramifications

Research has shown that juveniles incarcerated with adults are five times more likely to report being victims of sexual assault than youth in juvenile facilities (Martin Forst et al., Youth in Prisons and Training Schools: Perceptions and Consequences of the Treatment-Custody Dichotomy, 2 Juv. & Fam. Ct. J. 9 (1989).), and the suicide rate of juveniles in adult jails is 7.7 times higher than that of juvenile detention centers. As states try growing numbers of juveniles as adults, the risk of sexual abuse increases.

Prisoner rape also costs taxpayers dearly in the form of higher rates of recidivism and re-incarceration, increased violence, higher rates of substance abuse, lawsuits brought by victims, mental health services, and medical care, including treatment for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Yet these high costs have failed to inspire most facilities to implement even the most basic measures to address the problem.[1]

Prison rape cases have drastically risen in recent years, mostly attributed to an increase in counseling and reports. The threat of AIDS, which affects many of those raped in prison, has also resulted in the increase of reported cases for the benefit of medical assistance.

Prison rape and sexuality

In prison rape, the perpetrator and victim are generally the same sex (due to the gender-segregated nature of prison confinement). As such, a host of issues regarding sexual orientation and gender roles are associated with the topic.

It is worth remembering, however, that many prison rapes in female prisons are instigated by a prison guard against an inmate.

In U.S. male prisons, rapists generally identify as heterosexual and confine themselves to non-receptive sexual acts. Victims, commonly referred to as "punks" or "charlon" or "bitches," may or may not be seen as homosexual. "Punks" is a term for those who are generally confined to performing receptive sexual acts. Moreover, though "punks" sometimes agree to a sexual arrangement with an aggressor, these men generally consider themselves heterosexual.

Transgendered inmates face further difficulties, and Stop Prisoner Rape asserts that such inmates have an almost certain chance of being sexually assaulted in prison. Some prisons separate admitted homosexuals, bisexuals, and transgenders from the general prison population to prevent rape and violence against them. Ironically, many heterosexuals identify themselves to authorities as homosexuals so that they will be sent to the 'gay tank' where they will be protected from homosexual rape.

Shame regarding perceived homosexuality may contribute to the underreporting of prison rape by victims. Prison rape statistics may be higher than reported, as many victims are afraid to report, being threatened with physical violence by rapists if reported.

United States

Many human rights groups, such as the Human Rights Watch and Stop Prisoner Rape, claim that prison staff tolerate rape as a means of controlling the prison population in general.

The topic of prison rape is relatively common in American humor. Jokes such as "don't drop the soap" seem to suggest that prison rape is an acceptable consequence of being sent to prison. This phenomenon is exemplified by the 2006 U.S. feature film Let's Go to Prison. There have been songs about the topic, e.g. the song "Prison Bitch".

U.S. Federal law, under the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003, calls for the compilation of national prison rape statistics, annual hearings by a review panel, and the provision of grants to the states to address prison rape.

Russia

In Russian male prisons, prison rape is quite common. There are many taboos in Russian prison culture associated with this topic. Victims of rape belong to the very bottom of prison hierarchy, to the layer called "opushchennye" (Russian: опущенные; literally, "those who were moved down", singular "opushchennyi") or "petookhi" (Russian: петухи; literally, "roosters", singular "petookh"). The circumstances of rape doesn't matter; the very fact of homosexual contact in passive mode makes prisoner a "petookh"; thus, if a prisoner had a homosexual contact before prison and this fact becomes known to other inmates, he is also moved to this group. "Petookhs" are untouchables: other prisoners may touch them only during the rape; they live in a separate corner of a prison cell, every object that is touched by a "petookh" is befouled: if another inmate touches it, he becomes a "petookh" too; it is even forbidden to beat "petookhs" with hands (only beating with legs is permitted). "Petookhs" are forced to do the most filthy job: to clean toilets, to empty trash cans, etc.
When another prisoner requests sex, a "petookh" must obey or he will be beaten. "Petookhs" are often given female names (Sveta, Masha, Tanya etc.) and must respond when they are called by these names. When a "petookh" is transferred to another prison where nobody knows him, he must immediately inform other inmates about his status. Failure to do this may lead to very severe consequences to the "petookh" including his murder when his status becomes known. According to "proper" traditions, there are very few reasons for raping a prisoner: lodging information against other inmates to authorities, theft of other prisoners' property, failure to pay debt in time. When somebody is raped without a proper reason, this is considered as bespredel (Russian: беспредел; literally, "without limits") - an action that seriously violates rules and traditions of criminal community. In such a case, the rapist himself sometimes may be raped, but the status of the prisoner that is raped by "bespredel" doesn't change. The status of "petookh" is life-long, there is no way to get out of this layer (At least until the inmate is released or paroled; but if he is jailed again, he will again be considered as a "petukh".) The very word "petookh" is a taboo: inmates tend to use it as little as possible. To call a somebody a petukh when they are not is a very hard insult that may lead to death.

In popular culture

In the David Mamet film Edmond, William H. Macy is raped by his black cellmate with whom he later falls in love.

In the 1989 film An Innocent Man, Tom Selleck is framed by policemen and then threatened with gang rape in prison.

In the 1992 film American Me, the Hispanic prison gang featured in the movie is seen involved in several rape scenes.

In the film Office Space, the characters refer to federal prison as 'federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison.'

In the film Half Baked, a character who goes to prison drops the soap in the shower.

In the film The Shawshank Redemption, the main character Andy is raped regularly by a group of inmates called 'the sisters'.

In the film American History X, Edward Norton's character Derek Vinyard is attacked and raped by members of the Aryan Brotherhood in the shower while serving a stretch of time for manslaughter.

On the HBO drama Oz, a show about a fictional prison called the Oswald State correctional facility, prison rape is often shown. The Aryan Brotherhood and Homeboys gangs are shown committing the most acts of rape and their respective leaders Vern Schillinger and Simon Adebisi are two of the prison's most infamous rapists.

In Aaron McGruder's animated series The Boondocks, it is revealed in the episode A Date With The Health Inspector that the character, Tom Dubois has a fear of being anally raped in prison. The irony of his character is that he is an African American prosecuting attorney whose job involves commonly sentencing African American men to prison to share the very fate he fears.

T.J. Parsell's memoir, Fish: A Memoir of a Boy in a Man's Prison, is an account of his own victimization in a Michigan prison when he was incarcerated at 17 years of age. On his first night in prison he was drugged, and gang-raped by several inmates and he continued to be sexually assaulted and harrassed by different prisoners as he traveled through Michigan's penal system.

In the film I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, there is a comedic shower scene that dramatized the idea of 'dropping the soap'.

See also

• Types of rape
• Prison sexuality
• Custodial rape
• Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003

References

• [2] "No Escape: Male Rape in U.S. Prisons," Human Rights Watch, accessed 20 Aug 2006.
• [3] "The Basics on Rape Behind Bars," Stop Prisoner Rape, Inc., accessed 20 Aug 2006.
• [4] Alex Coolman, "Trivializing Prison Rape," CounterPunch, August 1, 2003.
• [5] Steve J.B., "Prison Bitch," CounterPunch, August 1, 2003.
• [6] Joanne Mariner, "Preventing Prison Rape, FindLaw.com, June 24, 2002.
• Martin Forst et al., Youth in Prisons and Training Schools: Perceptions and Consequences of the Treatment-Custody Dichotomy, 2 Juv. & Fam. Ct. J. 9 (1989).

External links

• Stop Prisoner Rape Organization campaigning against prison rape