David Kaiser and Lovisa Stannow have a very troubling report in the New York Review of Books (via) on the incidence of prison rape both in adult and – more disturbingly – juvenile detention facilities across America. They call it one of the most important human rights issues facing our nation today, and I agree.
Probably the most troubling fact is that both adults and children report a much larger number of sexual assaults are at the hands of prison staff rather than other inmates. These abuses often go unreported and when they are reported are often ignored. Children who report abuse are often retaliated against by other inmates or by staff. The unwieldy state bureaucracies are typically either slow to act or purposefully attempt to cover up allegations of abuse. The article is long and defies easy quotation, but these numbers should help set the stage:
