Prison rape has been a long standing problem within the U.S Justice system. This problem is often ignored because quite frankly, not many Americans care what happens to inmates. We often hear the phrase, “Don’t do the crime, if you can’t do the time” as well as similar statements which are used to dismiss prison rape as just a part of the prison experience.
What these short sighted Americans fail to realize, is that these inmates go into prison often as non-violent offenders, and leave prison as hardened criminals. Many prison rape victims turn to drugs in order to deal with the trauma. It’s well known that drugs contribute to increased criminal activity.
When you consider that the United States has more prisons right now than colleges, the amount of people effected by sexual abuse in prison continues to climb as the prison population grows. It is important that the next president tackles this issue and introduces legislation that will bring an end to the “Prison Industrial Complex” in the United States.
It’s interesting to note that the issue of prison rape seems to be a predominately U.S problem. Many countries in Europe see significantly fewer cases of sexual assault in their prisons. In Great Briton, a report estimates that 1% of inmates are sexually abused. Meanwhile, in the U.S, a 2012 report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics confirmed that nearly one in 10 prisoners reported being raped or sexually assaulted by other other prison inmates, staff or both.
How we chose to deal with those who have fallen behind in America will determine who we are as a nation. As the saying goes, we are only as strong as our weakest link.
This video may help you understand the danger of sexual abuse in prison, as well as how to avoid it. Some of the information contained in this video may surprise you.
