All Too Familiar: Sexual Abuse of Women in US State Prisons

This report examines the sexual abuse of female prisoners largely at the hands of male correctional employees at eleven state prisons located in the north, south, east, and west of the United States.

An End to Silence: Prisoners’ Handbook on Identifying and Addressing Sexual Misconduct (pdf)

This report addresses staff sexual misconduct to against all inmates; both female and male. The report explores the ways to identify staff sexual misconduct, effects of sexual conducts to the victims, and the steps to address the issue.

Data Collections for the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (pdf)

This report includes highlights of the legislation and addresses some of the complexities of collecting sensitive data from various correctional populations. The report also contains descriptions of new data collection efforts that BJS is undertaking in order to meet the requirements of the legislation.

Deterring Staff Sexual Abuse of Federal Inmates (pdf)

This report examines the prevalence of the sexual abuse of inmates by correctional staff and also analyzes the laws that exist to deter this type of abuse.

Examining the Characteristics of Male Sexual Assault Targets in a Southern Maximum-Security Prison (pdf)

"This study seeks to examine the demographic and behavioral characteristics of male inmate sexual assault targets in order to expand the current knowledge on this issue and offer information for providing a safe environment for all inmates."

Impunity: Sexual Abuse in Women’s Prisons (pdf)

This article describes sexual abuse of female prisoners in the United States as ubiquitous and legal remedies as wholly inadequate, and emphasizes the racial dimensions of abuses perpetrated against female prisoners, the majority of whom are African-American and/or Latina.

Measuring Victimization Inside Prisons: Questioning the Questions

"Violence and victimizaton in prisons are accepted facts but the information on their prevalence remains uncertain. This study focuses on questions used in the prison victimization literature to elicit information on victimization from inmates, compared to questions used in the general victimization literature. Rates of victimization were found to vary significantly by specificity of the question, definition of perpetrator, and clustering of behaviors. Facts about victimization inside prison will become more certain when the methodology becomes more standardized and consistent with definitions of victimization."

Meeting the Needs of Prison Rape Victims

This guide is intended to support rape crisis counselors and advocates in providing services to victims of prison rape. To that end, the guide includes an overview of the problem of prison rape, outreach strategies, ethical discussions, and things to keep in mind when working in a prison setting.

National Prison Rape Elimination Commission Report (pdf)

"This report discusses the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission's nine findings on sexual abuse in correctional facilities as well as policies and practices that must be mandatory in remedying these problems; recommendations address what leaders in government outside the corrections profession can do to support solutions."

No Escape: Male Rape in US Prisons

This report explores the reality of male sexual assault in US prisons. The reports are based on interviews with over 200 prisoners.

Not Part of My Sentence: Violations of Human Rights of Women in Custody

This document, produced as part of the USA campaign, gives details of the human rights abuses suffered by women in custody for breaking criminal laws. These abuses include the use of restaints, poor health provison, sexual abuse by prison staff and the isolation of women held in high security units.

Nowhere to Hide: Retaliation Against Women in Michigan State Prisons

This report is specifically focused on retaliatory behavior that appeared to be connected to women's roles as plaintiffs in class action suits about the sexual assault of women in prison.

Prison Rape and Sexual Coercion Behind Bars (pdf)

"This issue provides an overview of some of the research that exists on the topic of prisoner rape."

Report on Research on Rape and Violence (pdf)

"This report is a compendium of research on issues related to rape, sexual assault, and violence. While efforts have been made to include research from as many sources as possible, it is inevitable that other valuable sources of research may contain information no included in this report."

Sexual Violence Public Policy Topics

"This area contains topic-specific resources related to public policy and systems advocacy. Current topics include: civil legal rights, clergy sexual abuse, DNA, drug-facilitated sexual assault, indigenous issues, marital rape, privacy & confidentiality, public health, sex offender, sexual harassment, sexual violence in military, prisons and on campus, and trafficking."

Sexual Violence Reported by Correctional Authorities, 2004 (pdf)

This paper includes the results of a first-ever national survey of administrative records on sexual violence in adult and juvenile correctional facilities. Although data are limited to incidents reported to correctional authorities during 2004, the survey provides an understanding of how administrators respond to sexual violence. The survey also collects basic counts of substantiated incidents, characteristics of victims and perpetrators, and sanctions imposed.

The Extensive Sexual Violation and Sexual Abuse Histories of Incarcerated Women

"This study used the Sexual Abuse Checklist (designed by the first author) and a modified version of the Sexual Experiences Survey (SES) to obtain a detailed account of 391 incarcerated women's self-reported sexual violation and abuse histories. Seventy percent of the women reported at least one violation consistent with what qualifies as "rape" in most states in the United States today, and half of the women reported child sexual abuse victimization. The most prevalent victim–offender relationships were male strangers, male lovers or boyfriends, male dates, husbands, uncles, brothers, male cousins, and stepfathers."

Violence Against Girls in Conflict with the Law

This article documents the particular vulnerability to sexual abuse and rape of girls who come into contact with police and juvenile justice systems in various countries.