The sexual exploitation of female prisoners within the federal prison system gained renewed attention on Monday as the FBI conducted its raid on the women’s Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California. According to a Los Angeles Times article, sexual assault allegations at this facility date all the way back to the 1990’s. Sadly, however, this is not the only women’s federal facility with a history of sexual abuse allegations, and such allegations are not confined to federal facilities. Abuse has been reported in state institutions as well.
The women’s Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee has reported sexual abuse dating back to the early 2000s, and my home state of Alabama’s Tutwiler Prison for Women has been known for its sexually abusive treatment of inmates since at least 1995. These are just a few of the many correctional institutes facing investigations due to reports of abuse.
It’s A Prison, not a Gentleman’s Club
In addition to possibly being raped, sexually extorted, and groped by both fellow inmates and staff, female prisoners are still routinely forced to submit to strip searches that often take place in common areas within view of male guards. Strip searches are searches for a concealed item on a person after removing the person’s clothing.
Although individuals are protected from unreasonable searches under the Fourth Amendment, until a recent decision by a court in Illinois, this law had been unable to protect incarcerated individuals. However, even when agreement is reached that a problem needs to be addressed, the solution is not always straightforward.
Who Wants to be a Correctional Officer?
Low staffing makes long shifts under stressful conditions increasingly undesirable for correctional officers in state and federal facilities. Add mandated overtime, poor mental health support, and violence, and unsurprisingly, prisons nationwide are facing staffing issues within their ranks of correctional officers.
A January “60 Minutes” report highlighted that the Federal Bureau of Prisons has nearly 40 percent fewer correctional officers than it needs. Furthermore, 12 states have officer vacancies of 20 percent or more, with Mississippi and Alabama leading the way with 50 and 58 percent vacancies, respectively.
The end result is a less safe environment for prisoners and employees.
Only One Solution
Several issues plague our correctional system, including overcrowding, staffing shortages, abuse and mistreatment, and extreme costs. Ignoring these realities as we move about our day-to-day lives may be easy. However, recent reports from Haiti should serve as a warning for how quickly problems can escalate in an overstretched correctional system. Continuing to build more and more prisons as the ability to staff these facilities becomes more complicated and more expensive is a waste of resources, negligent, and dangerous for society. So, what’s the solution?
We must invest more resources in reentry programs that assist individuals returning home from prison and reexamine the guidelines individuals must follow upon their return. According to a National Conference of State Legislatures report, 45 percent of prison admissions are the result of violations of probation or parole, not committing a new crime.
Reducing recidivism would alleviate overcrowding, indirectly improving staff ratios. With adequate staffing, abuse could be better addressed, and fewer inmates mean reduced costs.
Let’s get this right!
