Report on Sexual Victimization in Prisons, Jails, and Juvenile Correctional Facilities: Review Panel on Prison Rape

• NCJ Number: 249913
• Date Published: April 2016
• Length: 97 pages
• Agencies: OJP
• Publication Type: Survey; Statistics; Report (Annual/Periodic)

Annotation

This report presents the findings and recommendations of the Review Panel on Prison Rape (Panel), based on hearings held in 2014 and two national surveys of correctional facilities by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) for the years 2011-12.

Abstract

Under the provisions of the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA ), the Panel must hold annual public hearings based on the data collected by BJS from correctional facilities in three broad categories: Federal and State prisons, jails, and juvenile correctional facilities. The hearings are to solicit testimony on the operations of two correctional institutions with a low incidence of sexual victimization and three correctional institutions with a high incidence of sexual victimization. The purpose of the hearings is to identify the common characteristics of sexual predators, their victims, correctional institutions and systems with low incidences of sexual victimization, and correctional institutions and systems with a high incidence of sexual victimizations. The Panel presents 14 recommendations that apply to all correctional facilities, regardless of type. They include the development of protocols that facilitate the identification of inmates at high risk for becoming victims or perpetrators of in-prison sexual assaults. Particular attention should be given to inmates with mental illness, developmental disabilities, or who identify as non-heterosexual. Other recommendations include complying with PREA standards, collaboration between facility administrators and prosecutors in holding perpetrators accountable, and the provision of mandatory PREA-compliant training for staff and perpetrators. Recommendations are also directed to BJS in its PREA-compliant data collection and to the U.S. Justice Department and other governmental and non-governmental agencies with the resources to assist in countering sexual victimization in correctional facilities. 3 tables