Senate Report Finds Widespread Sexual Abuse of Women in Federal Prisons
New York TimesDec 13, 2022
A report released Tuesday by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations found that federal female prison inmates nationwide have been subjected to sexual abuse by prison guards and other officials for nearly a decade.
According to the report — which interviewed officials from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, alleged victims, and whistleblowers — prison workers sexually abused women in 19 out of the 29 women's federal prisons.
Though this report may be news to the public, the epidemic of sexual abuse in female prisons has been a well-known secret within the government for a long time. Authorities at the DOJ and other agencies ignored such horrific acts for years, so it's only right that these victims be released early.
While atonement and accountability are undoubtedly needed, the primary response to this horrific phenomenon should be how to prevent it from happening in the first place. The good thing is we already know the cause — the imbalance of power between male guards and female inmates. Now, there must be a concerted effort to be proactive rather than reactive.