Rape Issues

For too long, we have turned away from the rape crisis in our correction institutions, which now hold 1.3 million men and boys. In most of them, rape is an entrenched tradition, considered by prisoners a legitimate way to prove their manhood, and to satisfy sexual needs and the brutal desire for power says Colonel Walter Pence, the chief of security at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. The exact number of sexually assaulted prisoners is …

…becoming more sensitive to sexual abuse behind bars and more willing to break through these old taboos. The courts are also beginning to urge wardens and sheriffs to protect the prisoners. Trained rape counselors must be made available to all rape victims while they are still in custody, and community rape crisis centers should make efforts to reach out to the thousands of former prisoners who have survived rape physically but not emotionally ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**