Sexual assault in prisons is not particular to the US, and the incidence is not very different around the world because this is, sadly, a natural manifestation of a bunch of problems bundled up together (United States General Accounting Office, 1999). The main reason why it appears that sexual assault in prisons/prison rape is prevalent in the US is that people talk about it in the US, in academic research and pop culture, and that Is both good and bad but not the way an individual would expect.
What are the applicable laws, policies, and procedures for addressing such misconduct?
The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), Prison Rape Prevention and Prosecution (NIC), Grants to Protect Inmates and Safeguard Communities (BJA), National Prison Rape Elimination Commission, etc. (United States General Accounting Office, 1999) are federal mandates which have some pretty good mandatory programs for reducing (idealistically eliminating) sexual assault and rape in US prisons and county jails. Regardless of the fruits ripped from these laws, policies, and procedures, some politicians have started adding feel-good political stuff - like prisoners get housed with whatever sex they claim to “identify” as, and staff cannot question their identity claim. In this regard, there are still several cases of rapes and sexual assaults in women's prisons, thus leading to the arrest of many prison staff and fellow inmates for raping other inmates.
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What are the number, nature, and outcome of allegations that have been made in recent years?
While the predicted average of sexual assault in US prison is 1.91%, a similar percent of inmates have been sexually assaulted or raped (Stern, 2018). Nonetheless, this is not the type of surveying a lot of people would necessarily like to contribute to. The same review explains how prison rape often goes unreported and how prison staff is not trained/prepared for dealing with preventing/reporting/treating sexual assault (Stern, 2018). Moreover, prison rape exacerbates overall prison violence, interracial/gang tensions, and makes victims likelier to commit other crimes upon release.
References
Stern, E. M. (2018). Accessing Accountability: Exploring Criminal Prosecution of Male Guards for Sexually Assaulting Female Inmates in US Prisons. U. Pa. L. Rev. , 167 , 733.
United States General Accounting Office. (1999). WOMEN IN PRISON. Sexual Misconduct by Correctional Staff.
