Take action to eliminate rape from prisons!
 Prison rape is no laughing matter. Sexual assault is always a crime, and we must hold abusers accountable. Please write Attorney General Eric Holder and ask him to eliminate rape from our prisons and adopt the Commission’s standards at the earliest possible date. Use our suggested text below or use your own words—but please make your voice heard.
Change the Law
Write a letter to the Department of Justice and let them know you believe it's time to end prison rape. Use our sample letter below or compose one yourself—but write today!
The Honorable Eric Holder, U.S. Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Dear Mr. Attorney General:
We can no longer tolerate rape within our prisons and jails. Every year, more than 60,000 are attacked behind bars. These attacks threaten not only human dignity but also public safety. Disease, psychological damage and hatred spawned by prison rape endanger neighborhoods once prisoners are released.
That is why we urge you to implement the standards proposed by the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission (NPREC) without further delay. Most of the standards can be implemented immediately with little or no cost.
Sexual abuse is always a crime. We must hold the criminal justice system accountable for eliminating these heinous acts of violence. The standards provide the best possible ways to do this. Anything less poses a threat to inmates and to us.
The NPREC report’s standards provide concrete, well-researched methods for prisons and jails to prevent, detect and prosecute rape. Please approve these standards so that they become binding for all state and federal prisons.Every day of delay is another day thousands are abused. Please act to bring the violence to an end.
Sincerely
[Your name]
For more information on the prison rape problem in our prisons, visit the Prison Rape key issue page.
Pray
- Pray for comfort and healing for victims of prison rape.
- Pray that God would raise up compassionate mentors to counsel and care for victims of prison rape.
- Ask God to transform the hearts and lives of abusive, violent inmates and prison officials.
- Pray for honesty and integrity amongst prison officials to prevent, report, and prosecute prison rape.
- Pray for the Attorney General to have the courage to adopt the standards released by the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission in their entirety and without alteration.
- Pray for state leaders to recognize the terrible crime of prison rape and adopt standards to eliminate it.
Spread the Word
Talk with your family and friends about why we must combat rape in our prisons and jails.
- Correctional facilities across the country struggle to protect the men, women, and children confined within their walls. Approximately 60,500 sexual assaults occur in our state and federal prisons each year. This is roughly 4.5 percent of the U.S. prison and jail population. More inmates report sexual abuse from prison staff than from fellow inmates. (Sexual Victimization in State and Federal Prisons Reported by Inmates, 2007, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2007)
- No matter how bad the crime, just punishment never includes rape.
- Because the government removes offenders’ every means of self-defense when they enter prison, the government has an obligation to protect these vulnerable people.
- Corrections administrators are responsible to create prison cultures with zero tolerance for prison rape. Administrators must clearly communicate with their staff that all rape is unacceptable. Staff must be trained on how to prevent inmate-on-inmate rape and inmates must be trained to know their rights under the law to report and prosecute sexual assault. (Strategies to Prevent Prison Rape by Changing the Correctional Culture, National Institute of Justice, 2008)
- Far too many prison staff who rape inmates are not prosecuted because inmates are too scared to report the assault or prison officers do not care. Prisons must create effective processes for inmates to report assault and must investigate and prosecute all incidents. (National Prison Rape Elimination Commission Report, 2009)
- The damage done by prison rape does not stay behind bars. The disease, the psychological damage, and the desire for revenge caused by prison rape come back to plague our communities when prisoners are released. (Addressing Sexual Violence in Prisons, The Urban Institute, 2006
Hold the Government Accountable
Write a letter to your newspaper about what must change in our corrections system.
Dear Editor:
Prison rape shatters the lives of real men and women, and not just those who live behind bars. The disease, the psychological damage, and the desire for revenge caused by prison rape come back to plague our communities when prisoners are released. Over 60,000 inmates are raped each year. For the sake of human dignity, justice, and our own safety, we must eliminate such attacks from our prisons and jails.
The National Prison Rape Elimination Commission in June released a report on the prevalence of prison rape in our country and also released standards on how to prevent it. These recommendations are the product of months of intense interviews and meticulous research. The Attorney General now has a year to approve the standards for them to become law for all federal prisons. We must pressure Eric Holder to adopt the standards as they are, without weakening any component. We also must pressure our state legislature to adopt the standards to protect inmates in state prisons, too.
Sexual abuse is a crime, whether it occurs inside or outside prison walls. We must prevent, detect, and prosecute prison rape zealously. It is not a joke. It’s time we abandoned our flippant attitudes to instead pursue true justice.
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