Sexual Abuse

A far greater problem for women prisoners than male prisoners is the sexual
aggression of male corrections officers. In 1996, international human rights
group Human Rights Watch released All Too Familiar, a report documenting sexual
abuse of women prisoners throughout the United States. The report, reflecting
two-and-a-half years of research, found that sexual assaults, abuse and rape of
women prisoners by male correctional employees were common and that women who
complained incurred write-ups, loss of "good time" accrued toward an early
parole and/or prolonged periods in disciplinary segregation.1 In 1994, the
U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation of two women's prisons in
Michigan and found that "nearly every womaninterviewed reported various
sexually aggressive acts of guards."2 These instances included not only rape
and sexual assault, but the mistreatment of prisoners impregnated by guards,
abusive pat frisks and other body searches and violations of privacy, including
searches of the toilet and shower areas and surveillance during medical
appointments. One pregnant inmate was escorted by two male officers while in
labor. The two men handcuffed her to the bed in the delivery room and then
positioned themselves where they could view her genital area and make
derogatory comments throughout her delivery.3

The case of Heather Wells, an inmate at Washington Corrections Center for
Women, illustrates not only the prevalence of sexual assault but also the
prison system's treatment of mothers. In December 1996, Wells was raped and
impregnated by a guard in the prison laundry room. She charged the guard with
rape but, even after a paternity test proved her claim, the state of Washington
did not file charges. Instead, the guard was allowed to quit his job and move
out of state. Only weeks after the baby was born, she was taken from Wells and
placed in a foster home.4 This callousness in separating a mother and her
newborn infant is commonplace in most women's prisons, reflecting the attitude
that incarcerated women have forfeited their rights (and feelings) as mothers.5

Unlike the sexual predation in male prisons, the perpetrators in female
facilities are usually those in a position of authority, such as guards and
other prison staff. This makes it impossible for women prisoners to form
protective groups like their male counterparts. Guards hold the keys to their
cells and are authorized to watch inmates, conduct full-body frisks and strip
searches, and enter cells at any time. Thus, the direct approaches of male
groups such as the Angola Three or Gay Men Against Sexism, male inmate groups
that bypass the administration by physically protecting weaker prisoners from
sexual predators, do not work for women who wish to stop the sexual harassment
and rape in their facility.

In the case of Barrilee Bannister, sentenced under Oregon's mandatory
sentencing law, she and seventy-eight other women were sent to a privatized,
all-male prison in Arizona run by the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA).
Not only were they separated from family and friends, but from any outside
support that could have prevented their sexual abuse. Only weeks after the
women's arrival, some were visited by a captain, who shared marijuana with
them. He left it with them and then returned with other officers who announced
that they were searching the cell for contraband. However, they promised that
if the women performed a strip tease, they would not search the cell. "Two of
the girls started stripping and the rest of us got pulled into it," Bannister
recalled. "From that day on, the officers would bring marijuana in, or other
stuff we were not suppose[d] to have, and the prisoners would perform [strip]
dances." From there, the guards became more aggressive, raping several of the
women. Bannister reported that she was not given food for four days until she
agreed to perform oral sex on a guard.6

Once out of segregation, Bannister called outside friends and told them her
story. They, in turn, informed the media. The media attention led to the
return of some of the women to Oregon, where they filed a federal suit,
resulting in a public apology, a promise of stricter rules concerning sexual
abuse, and the reimbursement of attorney's fees.7 The negative publicity also
led to the suspension and dismissal of three dozen CCA staff members.8

Bannister's story is unusual only in that the women themselves were able to
organize and obtain sufficient outside support to stop their abuse. Women
inmates who have been assaulted by prison staff usually lack the outside
support services which male prisoners may turn to. For instance, male inmates
raped by other inmates can turn to outside groups such as Stop Prisoner Rape
(started by an ex-inmate who was himself raped in prison). Women raped by
prison staff, on the other hand, face not only administrative harassment and
retaliation for complaining but also a lack of support services outside the
reach of the prison administration. Dawn Amos, herself having experienced
sexual misconduct, stated that when two women were physically and sexually
abused, they were transferred to a facility in Denver while the offending
officer remained, unreprimanded, on the job. In her own case, the District
Attorney has yet to press charges against the offending officer. "Im still in
the middle of trying to find an attorney to take my case," she stated.9 This
absence of a support network, both inside and out, not only mirrors but
magnifies the general lack of support for rape victims.

CONTINUE

NOTES:

Sexual Abuse

1 Human Rights Watch Women's Project. All Too Familiar: Sexual Abuse of
Women in U.S. State Prisons. Washington, DC: Human Rights Watch, 1996.

2 Ibid. 236-7. Cites letter from Deval Patrick, assistant attorney general,
U.S. Department of Justice, to John Engler, governor, Michigan. 27 March 1995.

3 Ibid. 248-9.

4 Cook, Christopher D. Parenti, Christian. "Rape Camp USA: The Epidemic of
Sexual Assault in Women's Prisons." Disbarred: The Journal of the National
Lawyers Guild Prison Law Project, #16. 1.

5 This attitude is reflected in the 1977 Los Angeles County Department of
Adoptions vs. Hutchinson decision. The court terminated a woman's parental
rights six months before her release from prison on the flimsy reasoning that
she was not going to be released immediately. (See Joycelyn Pollock-Byrne's
Women, Prison, and Crime. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Co., 1990.
177. Cites Los Angeles County Department of Adoptions vs. Hutchinson, No. 2
Civil 48729.)

6 Letter from Barrilee Bannister. Dated 21 June 2001.

7 Ibid.

8 Thaxton, Rob. "Red, White and Blue Fascism." Chain Reaction #5. 6-7

9 Letter from Dawn Amos. Dated 28 September 2001.

CONTINUE