NCJ Number
202816
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 65 Issue: 6 Dated: October 2003 Pages: 118-121
Date Published
October 2003
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article addresses sexual misconduct in women’s correctional facilities.
Abstract
This article describes several cases of sexual misconduct in women’s correctional institutions, including female inmates becoming impregnated while incarcerated, and suggests that attitudes and agency responses towards reports of sexual misconduct have changed in recent years. Sexual misbehavior, name-calling, and inappropriate leering are now explicitly prohibited by the policies of many correctional departments across the country. These policies have been designed because of a growing awareness that sexual assault during incarceration poses serious dangers to inmates’ mental and physical health. While vast improvements have been made by many correctional institutions making explicit policies against sexual misconduct in these facilities, there is a need for even more clarity in laws and policies, especially in the ways in which sexual misconduct is understood by and responded to by correctional facilities employees. A table presents the American Correctional Association’s Standards for addressing sexual misconduct.