On July 25, the House approved, by voice vote, legislation (S. 1435) aimed at reducing the incidence of prison rape. The Senate passed the bill on July 21. It now goes to the President for his signature.
Members on both sides of the aisle praised the legislation. “Prison rape has been shown to have a devastating impact on our prisons. Not only does it cause severe physical and psychological trauma to its victims, but prison rape is recognized as a contributing factor to prison homicide, violence against staff, and institutional riots,” said Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), who cosponsored the House bill (H.R. 1707) with Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA). “And society pays dearly for ignoring prison rape. Inmates, often non-violent first time offenders, come out of a prison rape experience severely traumatized and leave prison not only more likely to commit crimes, but far more likely to commit violent crimes than when they entered,” Rep. Scott added.
S. 1435 requires an annual statistical study of the incidence of rape in federal, state and county prisons and jails, and public reviews of institutions where the rate of prison rape is 30% above the national average rate. It also establishes a clearinghouse for complaints of prison rape to assist prevention and prosecution, and provide training and assistance to prison and jail officials. The bill also provides for the establishment of a commission to develop standards for addressing and eliminating prison rape.
“Not often discussed, prison rape is a cruel act which has been ignored for too long. Survivors of prison rape often bear physical and emotional scars from their experiences for their entire lives,” said Rep. Wolf. “It is important to be tough on crime, but turning a blind eye to prison rape has nothing to do with being tough on crime; it has everything to do with treating people humanely, reducing recidivism, and halting the spread of disease.”
