CALIFORNIA recently passed legislation that bans shackling female prisoners during labor and delivery. The inhumane practice was standard operating procedure in many California prisons, despite not a single recorded case of a prisoner in labor actually attempting escape. According to Amnesty International, shackling women in labor is still widely practiced in 21 states. Many states have laws which require physical restraint of all prisoners in hospitals or undergoing medical procedures, regardless of the severity of the illness or condition.
Such shocking mistreatment is only the tip of the ice berg when it comes to degradation and abusive treatment of women in U.S. prisons.
For the approximately 150,000 women currently in prison, there is little protection of basic human rights. Despite forming less than eight percent of the overall prison population in the United States., women constitute the fastest growing segment, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. This factor routinely subjects women to cruel treatment by a system which is largely unequipped to deal with the rapidly growing female prison population.
The burgeoning number of women in prisons is largely correlated with the increase in arrests for drug possession over the last few decades. Three-quarters of women in prison are there for non-violent offenses and approximately 40 percent are incarcerated for possession of illegal drugs, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Despite the rapidly growing population of women prisoners, very little has been done to ensure that the human rights of women prisoners are safe-guarded.
According to Amnesty International, six states still have no laws specifically banning sexual relations between prisoners and custodial staff despite the fact that under international law, rape of inmates by prison guards is an act of torture. Three other states currently allow prison staff to claim sexual relations with prisoners as consensual. The problem is not only gender-specific, as allegations of rape by guards of male inmates is not uncommon.
It is shameful that there are still states without laws specifically banning sexual contact between custodial staff and prisoners both male and female. The power relationship the guard holds over the inmate precludes any type of validation of the relationship based on consent.
Numerous women have brought cases against correctional staff alleging rape, however, many have been silenced by hefty pay outs by state Departments of Corrections. According to Amnesty International, in 1998 the Federal Bureau of Prisons paid three women a total of $500,000 to settle a case brought by the women alleging that correctional staff had facilitated rape by allowing male inmates at federal institution into female inmates' cells in exchange for cash. The reported sanctioning of abuse and rape by correctional staff is not unique. The U.S. Justice Department initiated legal action against two states, Arizona and Michigan, following evidence of "systematic" sexual abuse and assault sanctioned by correctional officers.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2000 reported that over 60 percent of women in state prisons report experiencing physical or sexual abuse. Despite this staggering statistic, a 1997 Amnesty International study of 52 Departments of Corrections nationwide found that only 19 of 52 provided any kind of domestic violence counseling for women inmates and only nine had programs for sexual assault victims.
While California may have finally ridded itself of the archaic practice of shackling pregnant women and now provides access to prenatal care for its prisoners, its progressive undertaking is unique nationally. Federally, little is being done to ensure that prisoners, both male and female, are treated humanely. Federal legislation has repeatedly been proposed that financially penalizes states that fail to criminalize sexual relations between prisoners and custodial staff. Such legislation needs to be enacted, as the nine states which allow for such abuse are effectively sanctioning a form of torture.
While criminalizing sexual conduct between staff and prisoners remains by far the most significant reform needed to be undertaken, several other steps should be enacted to ensure that human rights of the growing female prison population are guaranteed. Shackling women during labor is unnecessary. States requiring prisoners to be restrained during any type of medical procedure (as many do) should reform their laws to validate the usage of restraints only when offenders are an actual flight risk. Additionally, as the pathetically low proportion of facilities offering counseling for the incredibly high percentage of inmates that have been abused shows, much greater effort is needed in the development of counseling and rehabilitation programs.
Sophia Brumby's columns appearThursdays in the Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at sbrumby@cavalierdaily.com.
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