U.S. Prison Sexual Abuse Revealed

[Gravitymaster 0]

Since there has been so much concern about the abuses in the Iraqi Prison, I thought those who seem so upset should be aware these types of abuses occur every day in U.S. Prisons and for some unexplainable reason, we haven't heard those same people expressing the same outrage.

Think about that for a second. Why are certain people so concerned about abused Iraqis but seem to be silent when it comes to abused Americans. I can't seem to find a single thread by those expressing such horror and outrage.

So I thought I'd post a few links so those same people could devote some of their time by getting involved in stopping sexual abuses in our own prisons. After all it is estimated that approximately 22% of prisoners in US prisons are sexually abused. I figure if people can get so worked up about Iraqis being abused, they would certainly want to become involved in stopping even worse abuse here at home.



http://www.spr.org/

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/prison/

http://www.vachss.com/help_text/prison_rape.html

http://www.menstuff.org/issues/byissue/prisonrape.html

So lets all pull together as a community and end this type of abuse here at home now. I know all who are upset about Iraqis being abused will want to help because I've also been told the never ending ranting has nothing to do with politics. I've been told it's a human rights issue.

[kallend 2,026]

I believe it is so widespread that it must be condoned at some level by the prison administrators.

There is an undercurrent of violence in our society that is deeply troubling.

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[Gravitymaster 0]

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I believe it is so widespread that it must be condoned at some level by the prison administrators.

There is an undercurrent of violence in our society that is deeply troubling.

It is condoned. It's how wardens and guards keep the prison social system in line. Create a prisoner "Warlord" and everything runs in an orderly manner. fewer riots etc.

Rapes and drugs "break" an inmates will. Why are we so surprised this also happened in Iraq?

[wmw999 2,439]

Does the fact that it happened here make it OK that it happened there? I sure hope not.

When that kind of thing makes it out into the news and is believed, it makes a pretty big splash on the evening news.

One of the measures of a system is its ability to prevent the abuse of the power it grants to some. Especially the power over the weak or the socially unacceptable. Humans are, by nature, capable of enormous cruelty. That doesn't make it OK.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[billvon 2,989]

Torture and rape are no more acceptable in US prisons than they are in US-run Iraqi prisons.

[Tonto 1]

Of course, it should be noted that all those who are in criminal prisons in the US have been convicted by a jury of their peers.

Many prisoners in Iraq have not even been charged.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[Skyrad 0]

I wonder if this is largely a US problem or a problem in prisons around the world. I guess it happens everywhere but to what extent? How much is this a national prison culture I wonder.

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[Gravitymaster 0]

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Does the fact that it happened here make it OK that it happened there? I sure hope not.

I don't read anything in my post that suggests this.

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When that kind of thing makes it out into the news and is believed, it makes a pretty big splash on the evening news.

So where is the outrage? These are Americans we are talking about. Not hundreds....thousands.

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One of the measures of a system is its ability to prevent the abuse of the power it grants to some. Especially the power over the weak or the socially unacceptable. Humans are, by nature, capable of enormous cruelty. That doesn't make it OK.

Again, where did I say it was OK? I only asked why there isn't more outrage. Have you even been equaly outraged that American women are being systemically raped and tourtured in American prisons? Have you posted anything about the abuses in American prisons? No? Why not?
I'm sure you support causes like "Jump for the Cause". Why so silent on this issue?

[Gravitymaster 0]

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Torture and rape are no more acceptable in US prisons than they are in US-run Iraqi prisons.

Really?? Then why have you never commented about it. These are your own countrymen we are talking about. You are more outraged when it's Iraqis, than you are when it's happening right down the road from you?

[Gravitymaster 0]

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Of course, it should be noted that all those who are in criminal prisons in the US have been convicted by a jury of their peers.

Many prisoners in Iraq have not even been charged.

t

So that makes it OK? Tens of thousands of American prisoners are sexually abuse every year. Some are only in prison on non-violent charges such as possesion of drugs and are raped and brutalized and all you can say is that? Sad, ....really sad.

[Gravitymaster 0]

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I wonder if this is largely a US problem or a problem in prisons around the world. I guess it happens everywhere but to what extent? How much is this a national prison culture I wonder.

This is an international problem. It is about the sick side of human nature when one group is give total power over another. It happens everywhere.
My only hope is that all who have continued their ranting about the abuses in Iraq, which I find totally disgusting, will stop for a second and ask themselves why they are so charged up about this issue when they have been so silent about these abuses in every country on the face of the Earth. I hope they will get involved in preventing this on a global level and work towards ending all prison abuses. To ignore the larger problem while ranting on and on about the problems in one prison in Iraq is the height of hypocracy.

[Skyrad 0]

One of the MPs in Abu Graib was actualy a Prison guard in the US. Maybe if conditions were better in the US prison system he might have thought twice when he saw and partook of the abuse in Abu Graib.

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[Gravitymaster 0]

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One of the MPs in Abu Graib was actualy a Prison guard in the US. Maybe if conditions were better in the US prison system he might have thought twice when he saw and partook of the abuse in Abu Graib.

I agree. If someone had spoken up about these kinds of abuses on a global scale years ago, perhaps what happened in Iraq could have been prevented. Lets all be honest, we all knew this type of abuse occured and non of us spoke up, wrote our politicians etc expressing our outrage.

Now we want to sit back and ask "how could something like this happen"? It happened because none of us did anything to stop it even when we knew it was happening in our own back yards.

[skydyvr 0]

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So where is the outrage? These are Americans we are talking about. Not hundreds....thousands.

But . . . but . . . it's Americans being abused, what's the problem?

This thread most likely generates a "does not compute" brain malfunction in the hordes of America Bashers who hang out here, especially the non-American half. Expect silence from them, save the few who've already crept in to sling a few darts.

. . =(_8^(1)

[nacmacfeegle 0]

"This thread most likely generates a "does not compute" brain malfunction in the hordes of America Bashers who hang out here, especially the non-American half. "

I feel this may be directed at the likes of me, a self confessed critic of US foreign policy.
If you care to look back, most people have not been bashing Bush/US over this. Most of us on both sides of the political and geographical divides have limited comments to an expression of disgust at the whole debacle.
I have maintained that this is really bad propoganda at best, at worst, some lives will be lost over the release of the pictures and the reports coming out.

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He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

[crozby 0]

Its more the case that to non-Americans, a problem of US mistreatment of US prisoners in the US is an internal issue and we don't feel the need to stick our oars in quite as much as when its US citizens abusing foreign citizens in a foreign country.

Doesn't anyone see the irony of President Bush telling the world that abuse of prisoners was Un-American when apparently 25% of US prisoners are abused?

[wmw999 2,439]

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ask themselves why they are so charged up about this issue when they have been so silent about these abuses in every country on the face of the Earth

How do you know we are silent locally? Because it's not the top thing discussed on dz.com? Recently we had a jailer video'd abusing prisoners, and it made the local news with a giant splash; it was a top story for several days. Of course, in Houston, we are also proud to have the least-competent police DNA lab -- it's been decertified, and many convictions based on its evidence have been overturned.

Even if I were doing things that I thought fought prison abuse (e.g. join Amnesty International, which does fight in the US also), It'd only be set up as a target for criticism and ridicule. The prison system in Texas is not great, but there are a lot of people who would love to make it more brutal.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[Skyrad 0]

Awwww.....Shame. Here we go with the Anti American sob story again.

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[skydyvr 0]

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Awwww.....Shame. Here we go with the Anti American sob story again.

No sobbing going on here, just noting things as I see them.

I speak of the large number of people who hang out here with abosolutely nothing positive to say about the US, but leave no stone unturned in their quest for reasons to say things negative.

This doesn't apply to people who make critisisms, just the ones who've established a record as described above.

. . =(_8^(1)

[skydyvr 0]

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I feel this may be directed at the likes of me, a self confessed critic of US foreign policy.

Actually not.

. . =(_8^(1)

[skydyvr 0]

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Doesn't anyone see the irony of President Bush telling the world that abuse of prisoners was Un-American when apparently 25% of US prisoners are abused?

I wonder how prison life in the US compares to prison life in other countries, especially Middle Eastern countries.

. . =(_8^(1)

[nacmacfeegle 0]

"I wonder how prison life in the US compares to prison life in other countries, especially Middle Eastern countries."

Go here..
http://www.amnesty.org/
There's a wee map on the right hand side of the page and you can see who is doing what to who.

If you are going to base things on pure numbers, the undefined status of the detainees at Gitmo and within Iraq will skew the figures.

The actual reports make pretty grim reading.

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He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

[kallend 2,026]

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Doesn't anyone see the irony of President Bush telling the world that abuse of prisoners was Un-American when apparently 25% of US prisoners are abused?

I wonder how prison life in the US compares to prison life in other countries, especially Middle Eastern countries.

I hope you aren't going back to the "It's OK for us to be bad, because the other guy is worse" kind of an argument.

A nation that trumpets its moral and social superiority should not be content to be merely no-worse-than others.

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[PhillyKev 0]

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Doesn't anyone see the irony of President Bush telling the world that abuse of prisoners was Un-American when apparently 25% of US prisoners are abused?

I wonder how prison life in the US compares to prison life in other countries, especially Middle Eastern countries.

Is it our goal to be a little bit better than them? Do we base our success as humanitarians on their progress?

The question should be, are we as humane as we can and should be? The answer to that is no.

I seem to recall several threads in the past regarding the state of prisons in the US. It just doesn't happen to be in the news right now. GravityMasters post just goes to prove that what happened in Iraq is most likely NOT isolated individuals, but a pattern of abuse. If there's a pattern of abuse in US prisons against US prisoners, it stands to reason it would be the same or worse in Iraq. It's wrong everywhere.

[rehmwa 2]

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Awwww.....Shame. Here we go with the Anti American sob story again.

That's not what I read.

I thought the hope was, that those of us in the US would take notice of the US systems and see if we could make it better.

And that those of us in the (for example, UK and South Africa), would take note of that and speak to the prison systems in the (for example UK and South Africa), rather than just comment negatively as well on the US system. Which is all you and Tonto did so far in these threads. Or for Kallend to make excuses for other country's systems by holding the US to higher standards and not them.

Do you have any info on the UK prison systems? Is it better, worse, the same. I'm betting people are the same all over the world.

This line would have been better taken had it not gone that extra step and pointed out media hypocrisy, though.

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Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants