Preventing Prison Sexual Abuse: The Prison Rape Elimination Act and CCA’s Efforts
In recent times, attention to inmate sexual assault has increased on the national corrections agenda.
In 2003, Congress enacted the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) to protect inmates from sexual abuse. The Act required that a national commission be formed to study sexual abuse in correctional facilities and develop standards for prison sexual abuse prevention and response. In June 2009, the National PREA Commission issued its report, which contains nine findings on sexual abuse in confinement as well as policies and practices that must be uniformly applied nationally in order to curb the problem of prison rape.
According to the report’s executive summary: “In the years leading up to the passage of PREA and since then, corrections leaders and their staff have developed and implemented policies and practices to begin to prevent sexual abuse and also to better respond to victims and hold perpetrators accountable.”
CCA general counsel Gus Puryear served on the PREA Commission. Over five years of study, the Commission developed standards that address correctional operations and culture.
“The report reflects the judgment of the Commission for best practices that prevent rape and sexual assault in prison,” Puryear explains. “The catalyst for the formation of this Commission was not a particular episode or series of episodes. Instead, it was motivated by the belief that someone sentenced to serve time is not also sentenced to be sexually abused.”
The proposed standards have been submitted to the U.S. attorney general. “After the attorney general approves the standards, they will become binding on all federal detention and correctional facilities. States that fail to adopt the standards will lose a portion of the federal funding that supports their correction and detention systems, so universal adoption is likely,” says Cole Carter, CCA assistant general counsel, Operations.
According to Carter, the PREA Commission’s recommendations will help reduce systemic subjectivity in assessing sexual abuse. These standards address inmate-on-inmate and staff-on-inmate sexual conduct.
“Different agencies may have had different definitions for specific acts or infractions,” he says. “The PREA standards aim to create the same definitions across the board. As a result, our nation’s corrections and detention systems will all be on the same page.”
“I believe very much that this is a topic that needs to be discussed and needs our attention,” adds Steve Conry, CCA vice president, Operations (Business Unit III). “We owe it to our inmates, staff and partners to provide an environment in which we eliminate inmate sexual abuse.”
CCA: At the forefront of prevention
CCA is working to increase education, awareness and vigilance about prison sexual abuse. Even before the PREA Commission’s report was released, the company had been committed to encouraging dialogue and providing employees with information on the subject.
“Our PREA policy was developed with help from the National Institute of Corrections, and we use a lot of their training materials,” says Carter. “We report incidents to law enforcement, conduct a full investigation, support prosecutorial efforts and assess any opportunities to introduce new security tactics.”
Employee training, at the outset of a CCA career, with annual refreshers, also emphasizes PREA.
“Starting with the pre-service academy, employees are familiarized with PREA issues,” Conry says. “They learn how to spot, report and prevent sexual abuse. Plus, annual in-service training and quarterly recall meetings emphasize any PREA updates and reiterate practices.”
New PREA initiatives are also bringing new visual attention to the issue. CCA facilities recently received a series of new posters designed to help offenders and staff identify and report sexual abuse. The posters also promote CCA’s universal PREA hotline, which was rolled out in March.
“There is a natural reluctance for inmates to make a report,” Puryear says. “There is a shame associated with rape. We want offenders to know they can speak out confidentially. They don’t have to fear retaliation.”
In August, CCA also launched an online PREA Resource Center for employees The site features reports from the PREA Commission and the Bureau of Justice Statistics as well as company policies, forms and checklists.
To learn more about the PREA Commission and view the report, visit http://www.nprec.us.