I got a vague sickened feeling recently when I saw prison rape made the subject of a TV comedy skit. I wondered if the affluent stars even knew what they were laughing about. Did they see it as some vague forbidden topic that could only happen to someone else? Though many people are still ignorant of the facts, the intimate details of what prison rape really is have been finally coming to light in recent years.
Rodney Hulin, a very troubled and trouble-causing 16 year old who was arrested in Texas for arson, was a real person who became famous after his prison death. After his first experience of being sexually assaulted in jail, he formally requested protective custody ( to be placed in a safe prison area). ..."I still think that my life is in danger," he wrote to prison officials in 1995. Though Hulin was a small, lone, kid in a jail filled with gang members, his request was unanimously denied. Rodney wrote his mother about the situation: "I'm living with a ... teenager, 17 years old. He wants me to pay him $10.00 so he will not have to fight me... Mom, I'm really scared that I will not get to see you again. I'm scared that I will die in here." His mother called the prison, but got no help for her son.
In Jan. of 1996, Hulet once again formally requested a transfer to a safe area. "I feel that my life is in danger. I have been threatened, jumped and nearly stabbed many times, I have reported these incidents and given written statements." Hulet's request for transfer was again denied. Later that month, Hulet wrote a suicide note before he hung himself. He stated that he had been abused in multiple ways by his father as a child. "Since I was placed in prison 7-31-95, I have found myself to be more mentally and emotionally destroyed than I have ever been. I'm very sorry to end my life this way. But if I don't do this some one will. I'm saying I rather die on my free will than be killed."
T. J. Parsell, author of the 2006 memoir "Fish," has also fleshed out what it is really like to be sexually assaulted in jail. Parsell was jailed at 17 after entering a photo booth with a toy gun as a joke. Convicted of a dangerous crime, he was terrified and knew nothing about prison. Admitted, he was soon befriended by an older inmate, who drugged him for an after- party rape. The following repeated rapes were agonizingly painful torture for him. Even worse, he related the case of a "sex slave" who was forced by his "owner" to service every inmate at a prison movie. This particular image is one of the most degrading portraits of a human being that I have ever contemplated.
Another prisoner was a member of a small group greatly outnumbered by a larger gang. Everyone in his smaller group had to fight to prove themselves, then they would be received into the smaller group for some protection. But then the larger group demanded that everyone in the smaller group fight them again. Rather than have everyone in the small group run the gauntlet again, the small group threw the man in question out and "gave him" to the larger group. Suddenly finding himself surrounded by overwhelming force, he realized that there was no way that he could prevent a rape, and he might even get killed resisting, so he was forced to allow himself to become a group rape victim. He was forced to become a sex toy for a large group of men.
Laughing at these victims sends a message that these people are subhuman and they don't matter . No matter what a person has done, years of brutal torture should not be part of the penalty in a civil society. -- And it could could actually happen to anyone, or any one's relative. First time offenders in for some minor reason are often scarred for life, or contract AIDS from a brief jail encounter. And what if a person is falsely accused?
Tom Cahill, a veteran, and a well-known prisoner advocate, was arrested at a peaceful antiwar protest. A hostile prison guard shouted "fresh meat" when he was first placed in a crowded prison block. He was physically and sexual assaulted throughout the next day-- a life- time penalty of horror for a non-violent political arrest.
Another ex-prisoner was only arrested for public intoxication. Despite his minor offense, the incredulous man soon found himself being raped by a corrections officer.
But, thank God, there are also some recent bright spots to add to this horrendous prison rape story. A "Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003" was passed. The act mandates that statistics on prison rape, and methods of preventing it, be gathered by law enforcement for the first time. The program is just beginning and is not yet really in place, but work has started. In 2009, surveys found that 4.4% of prison inmates had been sexually victimized in the past year. One wonders if that is a low figure. Victims overwhelmed with shame, and in daily fear of their lives for ratting on perpetrators, may not find the courage to report the rapes, even anonymously. Nevertheless, 7,444 prisoners reported allegations of sexual victimization in 2008.
In state juvenile facilities, and large non-state facilities, 12% of inmates. reported sexual abuse in the past year. Shockingly, 95% of juvenile victims reporting staff sexual misconduct reported being targeted by female prison guards. Females now make up about half of the employees in the state juvenile facilities.
Chris Daley, of the prisoner advocacy group Just Detention, provided some back ground information for this post. Apparently, national guidelines to prevent prison rape are soon to be released. For the first time, there will be official rules to prevent this ancient type of victimization. The training of prison guards will be important.
And, as I learned from watching that unfortunate TV skit, education of the public will be one of the most critical tasks ahead.
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Comments
This is a solid and informative essay.
It does seem that our society has become so callous and I wonder why and what can be done. Perhaps the internet and the advent of hyper multitasking has made us all too scattered to focus any energies in these sorts of areas. Or, the press has gone so to pot that nothing is ever reported(or very very rarely) about the cruelties and rampant injustices that occur in both the criminal and civil courts. I am a witness to such jaw dropping things in both the civil and criminal courts and the press has flat out told me that such things are too plentiful ,and or judges are too powerful-- and prosecutors are immune anyhow ,and so it goes. Good for you for writing this, Kathy. Off I go to civil court, AGAIN, to attempt to do some redressing of the grievances. Wish me luck.
Thank you for posting this.
A student at my university was recently abducted and murdered. Unfortunately the person responsible for the crime still has not been arrested yet.
My roommate said that she hopes that when the person who murdered her goes to jail that he will have done to him what he did to the student at my school. And I said no.
I hope that when the murderer is finally convicted and goes to prison that he ends up in solitary. And that no one puts a hand on him. And that he has nothing but time to himself. To sit quietly alone. And for him to come to understand why he's behind bars for life. With no hope ever of parole. For all the girls he hurt and murdered.
That should be punishment enough in my opinion.
Bravo. / R
I do have two questions for you, Kathy. Why did you make the point that the 17 year-old was white and his cellmate black? And why did you say the victim of the gang rape was not gay? Are you under the impression that gay men might enjoy being gang raped because they enjoy gay sex?
Lezlie
However as it stands, your piece is tainted with racism. In paragraph two: You've portrayed an "innocent white boy" against a nefarious, abusive "black boy". Did you intend to do that? Probably not, no. But there it is... And it's a very big deal. The majority of people who read this will "take that in" without even realizing it... and then erroneously think only black men are committing the rapes. And if that is the message left with "many" it will belittle the issue and confirm dormant racist thoughts.
Language is so damn dangerous. The actual "cause" to stop and fight prison rape is important and valid yet with the racial implications this currently sends out via paragraph two, it becomes yet another subtle message to add to the millions of other subtle messages... a certain "message" that I do doubt, you intended to put out into the world. But you did, accidentally, do so.
I wish you could have told me which show. It's not one I watch, and I never want to watch it, so please let us know.
Liberals must get over an outdated obession with white racism in every instance. Whites are at greater risk in some of these situations. I am not going to lie which is a disservice to white victims, because it is politically correct. If a person can not get over their obsession with "white racism" in every discussion where it does not apply, that is their problem.
I was giving you the benefit of the doubt for your sloppy use of the language, but now I see you intended to make it a racial issue, as well as show your ignorance regarding homosexuality. As well as your ignorance regarding the prison system.
You purposefully made it black on white. Instead of addressing the actual points Lezlie and I brought up you instead made some absurd attack on "Liberals". Oh and then threw in the idiotic "White Racism." to imply that is at all what my comment was about ? - I have no idea what race you are, your avatar is a cartoon character. I'd of ignored you entirely if I hadn't seen your claim to be (Member of Self-Realization Fellowship) -your membership needs to be revoked.
Lady, get a grip, you just dropped the soap.
Your 2nd paragraph was exactly intended to promote the falsehood that only one race is the perpetrator against another race when in fact the rape affects all races and is perpetrated by all races and ignored by guards of all races too. You are clearly misinformed and prefer to be that way. You have purposefully pissed all over a serious issue and turned it into a racist, trite, diary entry. And this is assbackwards (pun intended)
"Many are not gay, and even if they were, obviously a rape is just as bad to anyone. I am merely repeating what I have read that many uninformed people assume that men raped in prison are gay."
Your writing in this post does not support what you think you were TYPING in your post. Seems you thought less, typed more. I think we now know WHO is the uninformed.
Your TYPING in this post does not support what you think you were writing in your post.
Our criminal justice system is imperfect. The skit members could conceivably someday be victims of prison rape. Even for the guilty this is a degree of inhumanity that should not be tolerated. R
As for white-racism, I call them as I see them. If you were black, I would have asked the same questions, even if you had written that a black prisoner in an all-white jail is in great danger. It is my understanding that hard-core criminals commit acts of violence, of which rape is an example, in order to establish the social hierarchy among inmates.
When I came over here at another OSer's urging, I had no idea who you were or what to expect. My questions were designed to show you how easily one can screw up a perfectly good piece of writing by being careless with word choices and sentence structure. The fact that you have chosen to take umbrage tells me all I need to know.
There is nothing more telling than a defensive response.
Lezlie
That was big of them.
If you're saying that only a white person who is in the minority would be sexually assaulted by a majority that is black, hispanic, etc., I think that's something else entirely.
Our prison system is a disgrace. We treat human beings worse than we do animals intended for slaughter. (Not that we should treat animals badly, either.)
Our system of justice needs to be reformed.
And prison rape has got to stop.
That said, I also recognize the therapy in gallows humor and realize a joke about prison rape does not equate to condoning it. We all know it happens and jokes are a way of talking about that when the usual discourse is to deny it or deny its effects.
Sometimes comedians use the medium they have to highlight the issue they do. Sometimes they're no talent hacks looking for a cheap laugh. You gotta be a connoisseur to know the difference, though.
As satire has often been the most effective means of gaining public interest in the issues of the day, we really need more connoisseurs to wade through the crap. Education of the public will be one of the most critical tasks ahead.
The kid got a bum rap...he was born in Texas. Good thing he didn't have a mental retardation or the state would have killed him.
The US, though, has the worst prisons on earth for a specific reason. Its an intentional form of neglect that we perpetuate in prison, so as to create horrid conditions sufficient to deter crime and disorderliness among certain segments of the population. We are fine with criminalizing other segments. But we need to deter crime and disorderliness among other segments, namely, the Bourgeoisie.
To scare the bourgeoisie and keep them in line, politically, it seems that this system of malignant neglect keeps our prisons as nasty and brutal as those in China and/or Iran, but without the factor of "regime intent" that you find in those nations, where the brutality is committed against the inmates by the hands of the prison guards themselves.
Instead, in America, we create and permit a set of conditions to exist where an equal or perhaps even greater degree of brutality is allowed to come about, but here, it is perpetrated by prisoners and carried out against other prisoners, while guards do nothing.
This ensures that the general Bourgeois public is 100% terrified of committing basic, petty crimes that can get them thrown into jail. One of the great untold stories of the protest movements of the 1960s is the fact that 10-15% of the male suburban white protesters who were thrown in jail were sexually assaulted in the municipal jails in major northeastern and California cities. These are conservative estimates.
The prison guards, apparantly, created conditions where such things were allowed to occur because there was an understanding that if these things happened and if the protesting college kids knew this, they would fear protesting, for fear of going to jail, for fear, ultimately, of being raped.
Unsafe jails and prisons are a tool of Oppression, regardless if the brutality is committed by the guards or the inmates.
We learned this at Devil's Island. The same holds true today.
r
to ALOT of Americans. Then again, so are fart jokes, etc.
Reality plays absolutely no part in their attitude.
Their reality is: protected and safe and 'free' to make light
of the misery of others, an existence
in a bubble of lowest common denominator
life.
Prisons are proud to be dangerous places.
Guards are mostly animalistic in their adherence to
law of the jungle justice.
It is beyond horror. It is America.
"The old established ways of thinking of everything in terms of black/white"
You are the one who specifically in paragraph two set up your discussion with the victim as white and the perpetrator as black. Old establishment? Then did so even further in detail in the comment section, using disinformation to back up your argument, claiming it's mostly white people in danger of being raped in jail. As well as implying if a person is gay, that changes the act of rape. Further you say:
"We have many serious problems facing the country that will demand a new concept of race and ethnicity. Old stereotypes may be comforting and easier to deal with."
And that's what you did… fell into stereotypes via your post as well as your multiple comments. You gave false data on prisons, dismissed criticism as being "liberal" then acted like someone accused you of "WHITE racism" -yet a cartoon avatar such as yours doesn't indicate what race YOU are… If you want people to know then add "I'm White"
to your bio.
Neil Paul's comment above is lucid and well intentioned, too bad you didn't read it. The rampant thumbs up on this post just shows how "The Old Establishment" flourishes… and you seem to be aiding it.
I happen to agree with both Charlie and Lezlie - but I also agree with your point Kathy - prison rape should be the main focus, and the way race/sexual orientation are 'inserted' within the writing is a distraction - both Lezlie's and Charlie's comments are testimony to that. It's not actually a question of political correctness, race relations based on populations and sexual orientation within the prison system is a necessarily separate topic which deserves separate attention.
Why not rewrite the article, remove the race/s.o. from within the body of the post and give it it's own paragraph? Use the very reasons you've used to defend your use of the terminology - in a separate paragraph to explain why the inclusion of racial tension (in a 'reverse' fashion) and sexual orientation (busting the 'gays love it' myth) is also necessary.
In fact you could also expand a bit more on the part that prison employees play in the prison rape issue.
Given the various facets of this thing, you could have had (at least) a three part essay here - the prison rape issue/stats, the race and sexual orientation aspects, and the prison employees participation in the abuse and dealing with their hiring and training practices.
Perhaps even a fourth and closing part giving information about the new law and addressing ways that might be useful to deal with public awareness and perceptions? You've actually opened a major can of worms here - and could do so much more with it than you have yet :).
Rated for potential.
"Old stereotypes may be comforting and easier to deal with."
Yet you unintentionally reinforce those very stereotypes. This dilutes and does not support your message, as Charlie noted.
As Seer says, you actually have a multi-part essay here, maybe a series of posts. There are many things that could be explored in depth, and another I'd add is the movement to privatize prisons.
In one of your earlier posts, titled "I Could Not Endure a Horrible Mistake," you state you are a perfectionist. If this is true, you might want to reconsider the sincere and valid criticism offered here, particularly what Seer suggests, about defending the use of your terminology.
I'm appalled by this practice and the "humorous" view of it. I wonder what would happen if you put a laugh track behind a rape seen of a teenage white girl? ha ha ha, thats pretty funny.
I'm certain it's under reported, for a variety of reasons.
If I ended up in jail, I think the first thing I'd do is commit suicide, and if it happened to me before I could hang myself, I probably would NOT report it. I'm sure the vast majority of cases are never reported.
Yea, this is pretty funny. They ought to put a laugh track behind the video footage of someone strangling themselves to death, ought to get a good rating for that one, no?
neilpaul, this is very hard to read, one of the most depressing subjects ever;
good luck, Fernsy, and thanks for reading
Thank you torrito
I suppose some people will still think that all black people are violent. I think that it is now a very small fraction. Just like it is a small percentage of people of color that think that all whites are evil etc.
However, I can see your point, and I am sorry. This kind of hits a nerve with me, and at first I got quite defensive. Then I calmed down and realized that people have a right to their own reactions to my writing, I can't tell them to feel the same way I do. Thank you for your comments.
Jeannette. I am merely quoting the words of a dead teenager, I do not think it is necessary to censor him. No I am not implying that only white people are in danger of being raped if they are in the minority. I don't think that most readers are going to assume that. Obviously, you see if differently, and some others do also.
I have a question ~ it's probably rhetorical ~ for TriviaCompanion ( "If I ended up in jail, I think the first thing I'd do is commit suicide..." )
What's the second thing you'd do ?
The other thing that disturbs me is a tendency in online discussions about criminal accusations in the news, especially sexual assault (Sandusky comes to mind). Someone, usually several people, say something like, "I hope he goes to prison and gets raped every day of his life." I understand the urge for revenge, but what is disturbing is that a lot of people consider prison rape just a normal part of the sentence.
R♥