Women inmates go through a series of challenges as they serve their sentences. From the outlook, the main setback they may appear to face is the lack of quick adjustment to the prison life from their normal living. Experts in the field of criminal justice have unearthed other pitfalls, which include in-prison, prevention, and life after incarceration challenges. The in-prison difficulties are among the main ones that incarcerated women face. Some of such problems include sexual harassment by the other inmates, lack of proper drug and substance abuse treatment, separation from their children and family, and harsh disciplinary procedures. Such challenges have affected the lives of incarcerated women in varying intensities of implications, which have exposed more women to physical and mental disorders while in the prisons. As a result, there is the need to come up with reforms that reduce the effects of the in-prison challenges, explicitly sexual assault, in a bid to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of the female inmates. One of the in-prison challenges that have been studied by criminal justice researchers is sexual harassment. According to Kubiak et al. (2017), more than 80000 women are sexually harassed in American prisons each year. Out of the number, only about 8% of the victims report the issue to the relevant authorities. The researchers made use of a subsample of 179 women who have experienced at least one sexual assault related to penetration (Kubiak et al., 2017). According to the results of the study, a significant factor that led to the lack of reporting of the sexual assault cases was that half of the offenders were prison staff. Therefore, the assaulted women were unable to raise their voices beyond the staff since they lacked access to the outside world. (Kubiak et al., 2017) reported that some of the factors that dictate whether the women would report the cases of sexual abuse were their age, years left to complete a sentence, the duration of their sexual assault, and the severity of the condition regarding the number of people assaulting them. The researchers also found out that women assaulted sexually shied away from informing their family members and friends when they came visiting. Kubiak et al. (2017) propose the enforcement of the Prison Rape Elimination Act to bring justice to the affected women despite a large percentage of their offenders being the prison staff. The solution can be implemented by having a separate group specializing in the oversight of its integration in prisons, complete with a system of CCTV cameras, for instance, to document the different happenings that take place in the institutions (Kubiak et al., 2017). The intended consequence of the reform is that cases of sexual assault against women in the prisons will reduce and that the offenders who are prison staff will be taken action against, in a bid to promote justice in the country. Transgender inmates have also been victims of sexual violence in federal prisons. According to Perrone (2018), the issue of sexual harassment in the prisons has also been accelerated by the need to categorize inmates according to their biological gender, which may create problems. For instance, a transgender individual who is currently a woman may be put into jail with male inmates, which exposes her to the issue of sexual harassment by fellow prisoners. Perrone (2018) reports that transgender women may be subject to sexual violence both by the prison staff and other inmates due to their sexual presentation and behaviors that mimic people of a particular gender. That is a factor contributing to a rise in the cases of sexual assault among transgender women placed with male inmates owing to their biological sex. Perrone (2018) recognizes the lack of diversity in the correctional institutions to acknowledge the presence of LGBT members in the society and the different approaches to their needs owing to the fluidity of sexuality. Therefore, the researcher argues that the most fundamental solution to counteract the problem of sexual violence in federal prisons is to eliminate the classification of prisoners based on their biological sex. The incarceration facilities should adopt the measures that classify the inmates based on their current sex. The intended consequence attached to the solution of reclassification of sex and the revision of the biological view of gender is that cases of sexual assault among transgender individuals as well as the other members of the LGBT, which will reform the prisons. However, the solution may take time as the prison staff has to be educated on sexuality on a more in-depth level, which will expose them to the presence of fluidity when the issue of sexuality is concerned. The recognition that gender goes beyond merely being female or male will be quintessential in implementing the solution. Many incarcerated persons across American prisons have employment. Out of the approximately 1.6 million Americans that are incarcerated in the prisons across the country, about 50% have full-time jobs (Welsh, 2019). As the researcher reports, most of the imprisoned workers have continued to view sexual violence as a pervasive aspect of their lives. In their cases, Welsh (2019) reports that most of the perpetrators are their fellow inmates, guards, and the other prison workers, as they interact with them in a bid to attend to their work. The problem has been exacerbated by the lack of inclusivity in the definition of employment, as covered by the Title VII litigation strategy (Welsh, 2019). As a result, Title VII is a plausible solution that has been mostly underutilized in addressing the sexual harassment claims that have plagued the lives of women who are incarcerated and working full-time jobs. Essentially, Title VII covers the issue of sexual harassment at the workplace and its protection, complete with a review of the justice measures that can be implemented to counteract the sexual violence against people at the workplace. Welsh (2019) argues that Title VII may turn the tables regarding the sexual harassment of incarcerated full-time workers by expanding its scope on the definition of employment. The researchers cover the extent of sexual violence in prisons and identify that the different clauses of the Title VII may be a feasible solution towards reducing the injustices that affect the physical and mental wellbeing of the women in the various prisons (Welsh, 2019). The outcome of the remedy is expected to widen the scope of the definition of employment to include the full-time workers under incarceration. Once that is successful, the law will move closer to the correctional facilities to cover the sexual injustices that primarily affect women in the facilities. Views of sexual harassment against women and the remedies to counteract the menace differ from a person to another. Lydon (2016) states that some of the prisoners view sexual violence as a form of punishment that one receives for being different from the rest, such as being a member of the LGBT, or because of being passive, such as in the case of women viewed as inferior. The researcher documents a view by a former commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Correction who states that prisoners are sent to prison as a form of punishment, which is different from punishing them for being there. From her point of view, the correctional facility workers are supposed to offer support to the prisoners instead of perpetrating sexual violence. Lydon (2016) obtains an analysis of the views of prisoners and the correctional centers to come up with the solution to ending sexual violence in the facilities. Advocates of prison reform have suggested that punishment of the offenders is an effective way of ending the menace in the prisons (Lydon, 2016). Conversely, prison abolition reformists in the US have done little to save the situation and may require to engage different ideas on how the remedies to sexual harassment in the prisons could work. Abolitionists believe that prisons are intended to enhance systems of anti-black community, counteraction of crime, a measure of immigration, and correction of people whose sexuality goes beyond the perceived norm. The abolitionists, therefore, believe that there would be no sexual violence if prisons did not exist. Their solution is to do away with the correctional centers (Lydon, 2016). The researcher believes that the reformists' idea of punishing sexual offenders is a better way to reduce the crime of incarcerated women. The solution is aimed at ensuring that the sexual offenders in the prisons targeting women are punished while upholding the need for prisons, which is to promote the change of behavior of individuals through confinement to change the aspects of morality in the society.
In conclusion, there has been the need to come up with the various remedies that seek to address the issue of sexual violence that has affected the women in prisons for a long time. It has been reported that the sexual offenses against incarcerated women are caused by their inability to reach out as a large part of their offenders are the prison staff. The Prison Rape Elimination Act has been given as a practical solution to cover the problem. The traditional definitions of gender have contributed to sexual assault cases as women are classified with inmates that may take advantage of their sexuality. The remedy is to revise the definitions of gender by educating the prison staff. Another problem has been viewed as the sexual assault of incarcerated women who work full time. The solution given is to expand the scope of Title VII to cover such people. Prison reformists have suggested the punishment of offenders involved in sexual assault. All in all, there is a need to come up with practical remedies that save women from sexual harassment in the prisons.
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References
Kubiak, S. P., Brenner, H. J., Bybee, D., Campbell, R., Cummings, C. E., Darcy, K. M., ... &
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Lydon, J. M. (2016). Once There Was No Prison Rape: Ending Sexual Violence as Strategy for
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Perrone, C. (2018). Eliminating Ambiguity and Conflict: Protecting Transgender Inmates from
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Welsh, J. S. (2019). Sex Discrimination in Prison: Title VII Protections for America's
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