Inmates Say Rape Not Uncommon

Dear Ann Landers: I read with interest your columns on prison rape. I am an inmate in a prison, although to protect my safety, I will not say where.

Rape in prison can be an everyday occurrence. You don’t have to be young, good-looking or a homosexual to be raped. I have been in this place for four years and have been raped twice. The first time was a few days after I arrived. I was held down by three gang members in the shower while the leader raped me. Yes, there are gangs in prisons. Two years later, I was raped in my cell by a guard.

I am 48 and straight. If I had told the authorities about those rapes, I would have been dead within 24 hours.

Being raped in prison is degrading and humiliating. It tags you as belonging to the inmate who raped you. One must never openly talk about being raped for fear of being severely beaten or killed.

I was interested to see how many prison officials responded to your invitation to write about this subject. Not that many were willing to admit that rape goes on in their prisons.

A lot of inmates here read your column, Ann. We will be waiting to see if you print my letter and how you answer it. - No City, Just USA

Dear USA: I received several hundred letters from inmates, and most of them sounded a lot like yours. Dozens of guards from all over the country also wrote. (A few from Canada.) Most guards denied that inmates were being raped in their prisons, and only a few admitted that guards did any raping. Several prison administrators wrote to say that rape was a rare occurrence and, if reported, charges would be filed.

This may sound strange, but the letters from the inmates had the ring of truth that some of the other letters lacked. Keep reading for more:

Dear Ann Landers: I am a social psychologist teaching at the University of South Dakota. Thank you for raising the taboo topic of prison rape.

I recently conducted a survey of sexual assault in the Nebraska prison system. Of 1,800 male and female inmates surveyed, 516 returned my anonymous questionnaire. Twelve percent said they had been forced to have anal or oral sex while in prison. Another 8 percent reported that they had undergone pressured or forced sexual touching and harassment. The incident rate was 22 percent for male inmates and 7 percent for female inmates. Nearly 90 percent of the victims were traumatized by the incident. One-third reported having suicidal thoughts, and 16 percent had physical injuries.

Only 29 percent reported the incident to prison authorities. - Cindy Struckman-Johnson, University of South Dakota

Dear Cindy: Thanks for those figures. Read on:

Dear Ann Landers: On a typical floor in a prison housing unit, you will find 100 inmates and one or two officers. It is next to impossible for one officer to monitor 50 inmates. As a result, inmates commit all sorts of crimes whenever they get the chance. That is why homosexual rapes occur.

The solution is to fire several administrators and hire more correctional officers. It won’t stop all the rapes, but it will surely decrease the number. - Correctional officer, California Men’s Colony State Prison, San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Dear San Luis Obispo: You make a lot of sense. Thanks for writing.