❤❤❤ Why Do Prisoners Have Rights
Unsurprisingly, a large number of inmates report having been raped by Catheter Case Study Answers cellmates. See case history described above. As described below, small size is Why Do Prisoners Have Rights risk factor; small young prisoners are thus especially vulnerable to sexual abuse. Strong, physically imposing inmates are safer from sexual abuse. All rights reserved.
What Rights Do Prisoners Have? - Part 2
Chong Kwang-il, a former prisoner at Camp 15, said the fame brought by media exposure trapped them, forcing them to reproduce a certain narrative. North Korea network North Korea. Why do North Korean defector testimonies so often fall apart? A North Korean defector looks out of a police vehicle while being transported to a Thai court. Tue 13 Oct Kim Jong-un is no joke, says North Korean defector. Read more. North Korea at welcome to our series. Reuse this content. As this might suggest, newly incarcerated first offenders are especially vulnerable to sexual abuse.
Lacking allies, unfamiliar with the unwritten code of inmate rules, and likely to feel somewhat traumatized by the new and threatening environment, they are easy prey for experienced inmates. My first mistake was not hanging out with the ignorant tough guys, and staying in my cell most of the time: they take that as a sign of weakness. I wasn't ready for the clique action. The prison was a gladiator farm back then; I kept getting into fights and finally I couldn't do it any more. I was getting beaten up every day for a month. Describing the dangers of this initial entry period, an Arkansas prisoner told Human Rights Watch:.
When a new inmate enters an open barracks prison it triggers a sort of competition among the convicts as to who will seduce and subjugate that new arrival. Subjugation is mental, physical, financial, and sexual. Every new arrival is a potential victim. Unless the new arrival is strong, ugly, and efficient at violence, they are subject to get seduced, coerced, or raped. Psychosocially, emotionally, and physically the most dangerous and traumatic place I can conceive of is the open barracks prison when first viewed by a new inmate. When an inmate comes in for the first time and doesnt know anyone.
The clicks and gangs. Watch him like Wolves readying there attacks. They see if he spends time alone, who he eats with. Its like the Wild Kingdom. Then they start playing with him, checking the new guy out. They call him fresh meat. Numerous judicial decisions, newspaper and magazine stories, and even some scholarly articles describe the threat of "predatory homosexuals" in prison and the problem of "homosexual rape. To some extent, the talk of predatory homosexual inmates simply reflects a lack of semantic clarity. Since prisoner-on-prisoner rape is by definition homosexual, in that it involves persons of the same sex, its perpetrators are unthinkingly labeled predatory homosexuals.
This terminology is deceptive, however, in that it ignores the fact that the vast majority of prison rapists do not view themselves as gay. Rather, most such rapists view themselves as heterosexuals and see the victim as substituting for a woman. From this perspective the crucial point is not that they are having sex with a man; instead it is that they are the aggressor, as opposed to the victim--the person doing the penetration, as opposed to the one being penetrated. Indeed, if they see anyone as gay, it is the victim even where the victim's sexual orientation is clearly heterosexual.
The theory is that you are not gay or bisexual as long as YOU yourself do not allow another man to stick his penis into your mouth or anal passage. Equal and voluntary gay relationships do not fit comfortably within this dichotomy. Although outsiders may perceive male prisons as a bastion of gay sexuality, the reality is quite different. Gay relationships typical of regular society are rare in prison, and usually kept secret. Indeed, many gay inmates--even those who are openly gay outside of prison--carefully hide their sexual identities while incarcerated. They do so because inmates who are perceived as gay by other inmates face a very high risk of sexual abuse. Human Rights Watch has received reports of rape from numerous gay inmates, all of whom agree that their sexual orientation contributed to the likelihood of victimization.
Some prisoners have told Human Rights Watch that inmate views on homosexuality are gradually changing, with a lessening of prejudice against gays as changing societal mores begin to permeate prison culture. Even these prisoners, however, acknowledge that gay inmates are still severely stigmatized--they just believe that their treatment has lately been improving. Gay inmates with stereotypically "feminine" characteristics are especially vulnerable to sexual abuse.
As one such inmate described:. I have long Blond hair and I weigh about lbs. I am a free-world homosexual that looks and acts like a female. In I came to this Unit and was put into population. There was so many gangs and violence that I had know choice but to hook up with someone that could make them give me a little respect. All open Homosexuals are preyed upon and if they don't choose up they get chosen. Unsurprisingly, transsexual prisoners like Dee Farmer, whose case went to the Supreme Court, face unrelenting sexual harassment unless another inmate is protecting them.
Such inmates nearly always have an inmate "husband," someone powerful enough in the inmate hierarchy to keep other inmates away. Past studies have documented the prevalence of black on white sexual aggression in prison. Overall, our correspondence and interviews with white, black, and Hispanic inmates convince us that white inmates are disproportionately targeted for abuse. To a much lesser extent, non-Hispanic whites also reported being victimized by Hispanic inmates. Other than sexual abuse of white inmates by African Americans, and, less frequently, Hispanics, interracial and interethnic sexual abuse appears to be much less common than sexual abuse committed by persons of one race or ethnicity against members of that same group.
In other words, African Americans typically face sexual abuse at the hands of other African Americans, and Hispanics at the hands of other Hispanics. Some inmates told Human Rights Watch that this pattern reflected an inmate rule, one that was strictly enforced: "only a black can turn out [rape] a black, and only a chicano can turn out a chicano. A Texas inmate explained, for example: "The Mexicans--indeed all latinos, nobody outside their race can 'check' one without permission from the town that, that person is from. The causes of black on white sexual abuse in prison have been much analyzed. Some commentators have attributed it to the norms of a violent black subculture, the result of social conditioning that encourages aggressiveness and the use of force.
Elaborating on this theory, one commentator surmised that "[i]n raping a white inmate, the black aggressor may in some measure be assaulting the white guard on the catwalk. Some inmates, both black and white, told Human Rights Watch that whites were generally perceived as weaker and thus more vulnerable to sexual abuse. An African American prisoner, describing the situation of incarcerated whites, said:. When individuals come to prison, they know that the first thing that they will have to do is fight. Now there are individuals that are from a certain race that the majority of them are not physically equip to fight. So they are the majority that are force to engage in sexual acts. Another African American inmate, while generally agreeing with the idea of whites as easy victims, gave a more politically-oriented explanation for the problem of black on white sexual abuse:.
Before I continue, let me explain that I consider myself to be speaking from mainly a black perspective. The reason I say that is not to be racist, but to emphasize that on the main, blacks, whites, hispanics, etc. They see themselves as being used as scapegoats. So is it any wonder that when a white man comes to prison, that blacks see him as a target. Stereotypes are prevalent amongst blacks also that cause bad thinking. Whites are prey and even a punk will be supported if he beats up a white dude. Prior studies have found that the crimes for which victims of rape are incarcerated are generally less serious and less violent than those for which the perpetrators of rape are incarcerated. A few of the victims who provided information to us were convicted of serious, violent crimes such as murder, but a striking proportion of them were nonviolent felons, many of them convicted of crimes such as burglary, drug offenses, passing bad checks, car theft, etc.
Of the minority of victims who were aware of the criminal history of the perpetrator of abuse, many reported serious and violent crimes. This general pattern is consistent, of course, with the idea that perpetrators of rape tend to be more violent people than victims, both inside and outside of prison. With one exception, no specific crime seems to be associated with either perpetrators or victims. The exception is sexual abuse of a minor. Although the vast majority of victims of prison rape are incarcerated for other crimes, it is apparent that inmates convicted of sex crimes against minors, if their crimes become known to other inmates, are much more apt to be targeted for sexual abuse in prison. A number of inmates convicted of such offenses reported being sexually assaulted by other prisoners; all stated that the nature of their crime inspired the assault or increased its likelihood.
They beat me with mop handles and broom sticks. They shoved a mop handle up my ass and left me like that. This man was transferred to another institution but other inmates who knew of his crime were transferred with him. Some three weeks after the transfer, his cellmate woke him up at a. Inmates confined for sexual offenses, especially those against juvenile victims, are at the bottom of the pecking order and consequentially most often victimized. Because of their crime, the general population justifies using their weakness by labling rape "just punishment" for their crime.
Sexual offenders are the number one target group for prisoner rape. Relationship between Victim and Perpetrator. Most sexual abuse in prison is not between total strangers: the victim and at least one of the perpetrators usually have some prior awareness of each other, however cursory. If prison officials cannot show this, they must provide a religious accommodation to enable you to practice your faith.
Depending on your particular circumstances, prison officials may be required to provide you with a religious diet e. They also may be required to allow you to have religious texts, wear certain religious clothing, headwear, and jewelry, and maintain religious grooming practices e. Prison officials cannot impose religious beliefs or practices on you. They cannot punish you for declining to take part in religious activities or events that include religious elements. Prison officials cannot give special preference to members of one faith, or treat prisoners of some religions less favorably than those of others.
What to do if your rights are violated You can file a complaint with the U. You can contact the ACLU in your state for more information. When you enter prison, inform staff you are transgender or believe you are at risk — both verbally and in writing. The federal Prison Rape Elimination Act PREA requires prisons and jails to make individualized housing placements for all transgender and intersex prisoners, including when assigning them to male or female facilities.
Many correctional facilities house transgender prisoners in solitary confinement to protect them from violence. PREA says you cannot be segregated against your will for more than 30 days and if you are in protective custody you must have access to programs, privileges, education and work opportunities to the extent possible. Prison and jail staff must evaluate you for gender dysphoria within a reasonable time if you request it. Medical treatment for prisoners diagnosed with gender dysphoria should be delivered according to accepted medical standards. Blanket bans on specific types of treatments, such as a ban on hormone therapy or gender confirmation surgery, are unconstitutional.
Staff should generally allow you gender-appropriate clothing and grooming supplies, and allow you to present yourself consistent with your gender identity, or they may be in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Strip searches must be conducted professionally and respectfully. A strip search conducted in full view of other prisoners and staff may violate your privacy rights.
If there is no emergency, male staff should not strip-search women including transgender women and vice versa. Some jails have policies allowing transgender prisoners to choose the gender of the staff to search them. Staff cannot conduct strip and pat-down searches solely to assess your genitals. Staff must be trained to conduct searches of transgender and intersex prisoners in a professional and respectful manner, and in the least intrusive manner possible, consistent with security needs. If you request a private shower, PREA requires that officials grant you access. What to do if you believe your rights might be violated Report your concerns or any specific threats to your safety to staff in writing, and also send a copy to the inspector general, the PREA coordinator for the agency with custody over you, and someone outside whom you trust.
If you are assaulted, file a grievance as soon as possible, though cases of sexual assault may have more flexible time limits on reporting or may have special reporting processes. Prisoners who want to file a federal lawsuit about events in jail or prison must first complete the internal appeals process. In most prisons or jails, you will have to file a written complaint on a form that is provided. If staff refuse to evaluate you for gender dysphoria or fail to provide you with care, file a grievance and appeal through all levels. If you were receiving hormones from a doctor prior to incarceration, have your medical records sent to the medical or health director at your facility.
If you are placed in protective segregation and do not want to be there, file a grievance and all appeals about your placement. You should also appeal anything that seems unfair about your placement, such as not being able to participate in a hearing, not being told why you were moved to segregation, not being able to participate in programming or obtain a job, or not being told when you can get out. If you are asked to strip down in front of other prisoners and you do not feel comfortable, politely ask to be moved to a separate area. If you cannot use a private shower, ask to shower at a different time from other prisoners or in a private area as the PREA standards require. If you do not want to be searched by a staff member of a particular sex, politely ask for a different staff member to search you.
In some prisons or jails, you may also be able to get a general order that says you should only be searched by women if you are a transgender woman. Sometimes you can find these policies in the prison library. Additional resources Black and Pink Columbia Rd.
Supreme Court--arguing that as a transsexual she was extremely likely to face sexual assault in prison. Why Do Prisoners Have Rights more. Of the minority of victims who 1945-1945: Sound Complexes In Classical Music aware of the criminal history of the perpetrator Why Do Prisoners Have Rights abuse, many reported serious and violent crimes. Whites are prey and even a punk will Social Classes In Aldous Huxleys The Brave Modern World supported if he beats up a white dude.