WE'RE ON A MISSION
The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape is working to eliminate all forms of sexual violence and to advocate for the rights and needs of victims of sexual assault.
Federal and State Law Violations Associated with Prisoner Rape
- Prisoner rape is violation of international human rights law that meets the definition of torture: the intentional infliction of severe physical or mental pain or suffering for an illicit purpose and committed, consented, or acquiesced to by public officials. The rape of persons in detention has been classified as torture by several international bodies. In addition, the U.S. has ratified treaties that prohibit torture, slavery, and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, without exception.
- The U.S. Supreme Court has held that prisoner rape is a violation of the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment in the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
- All fifty states and the District of Columbia criminalize rape and sexual assault, and all but three states have statutes addressing the sexual abuse of inmates by prison staff.
