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Sexual Violence Inside Prisons: Rates of Victimization

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Abstract

People in prison are exposed to and experience sexual violence inside prisons, further exposing them to communicable diseases and trauma. The consequences of sexual violence follow the individual into the community upon release. This paper estimates the prevalence of sexual victimization within a state prison system. A total of 6,964 men and 564 women participated in a survey administered using audio-CASI. Weighted estimates of prevalence were constructed by gender and facility size. Rates of sexual victimization varied significantly by gender, age, perpetrator, question wording, and facility. Rates of inmate-on-inmate sexual victimization in the previous 6 months were highest for female inmates (212 per 1,000), more than four times higher than male rates (43 per 1,000). Abusive sexual conduct was more likely between inmates and between staff and inmates than nonconsensual sexual acts. Sexual violence inside prison is an urgent public health issue needing targeted interventions to prevent and ameliorate its health and social consequences, which spatially concentrate in poor inner-city areas where these individuals ultimately return.

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Acknowledgement

This study was supported by the Office of Justice Programs (Grant #0JP-2004-RP-BX-0012) and the National Institute of Mental Health (Grant #P20 MH66170).

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nancy Wolff.

Additional information

Wolff, Blitz, and Shi are with the Center for Mental Health Services & Criminal Justice Research, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA; Bachman is with the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA; Siegel is with the Department of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ, USA.

This study was supported by the Office of Justice Programs (Grant #0JP-2004-RP-BX-0012) and the National Institute of Mental Health (Grant #P20 MH66170).

Appendix

Appendix

Survey questions regarding sexual violence (male version)

General sexual assault questions, INMATE:

  • Have you been sexually assaulted by an inmate within the past 6 months here?

  • Have you ever been sexually assaulted by an inmate on this bid?

Specific sexual violence questions*, INMATE

During the past 6 months, has another inmate ever....

1.

Touched you, felt you, or grabbed you in a way that you felt was sexually threatening?

2.

Tried or succeeded in touching your genitals or sex organs?

3.

Tried or succeeded in getting you to touch someone else's genitals when you didn't want to?

4.

Made you have sex by using force or threatening to harm you or someone close to you?

5.

Made you have oral sex by using force or threat of force?

6.

Made you have anal sex by using force or threat of force?

7.

Put fingers or objects in your anus against your will or by using force or threat of force?

8.

Made you put fingers or objects in someone else's anus against your will or by using force or threats?

9.

Attempted to make you have oral or anal sex against your will but penetration did not occur?

10.

Required you to perform sexual acts as a way to protect yourself from future harm?

General sexual assault questions, STAFF MEMBER:

  • Have you been sexually assaulted by a staff member within the past 6 months here?

  • Have you ever been sexually assaulted by a staff member on this bid?

Specific sexual violence questions*, STAFF MEMBER

During the past 6 months, has staff member ever....

1.

Touched you, felt you, or grabbed you in a way that you felt was sexually threatening?

2.

Tried or succeeded in touching your genitals or sex organs?

3.

Tried or succeeded in getting you to touch someone else's genitals when you didn't want to?

4.

Made you have sex by using force or threatening to harm you or someone close to you?

5.

Made you have oral sex by using force or threat of force?

6.

Made you have anal sex by using force or threat of force?

7.

Put fingers or objects in your anus against your will or by using force or threat of force?

8.

Made you put fingers or objects in someone else's anus against your will or by using force or threats?

9.

Attempted to make you have oral or anal sex against your will but penetration did not occur?

10.

Required you to perform sexual acts as a way to protect yourself from future harm?

*Questions #1, 2, and 3 were combined to create a variable indicating an abusive sexual contact. Questions 4–10 were combined to create a variable indicating a nonconsensual sexual act.

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Wolff, N., Blitz, C.L., Shi, J. et al. Sexual Violence Inside Prisons: Rates of Victimization. JURH 83, 835–848 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-006-9065-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-006-9065-2

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