A study of the National Commission on Correctional Health estimated that in 1997:

• 35,000 - 47,000 inmates were infected with HIV,
• 46,000 – 76,000 inmates had syphilis
• 43,000 had Chlamydia
• 18,000 had gonorrhea
• 36,000 had hepatitis B
• 303,000 – 332,000 has hepatitis C

(all diseases that can be communicated through sexual contact)

The Health Status of Soon-to-be-Released Inmates: A Report to Congress. National Commission on Correctional Health Care, March 2002. http://www.ncchc.org/pubs/pubs_stbr.html

On December 31, 2001, 2% of State prison inmates (22,627) and 1.2% of Federal prison inmates (1,520) were known to be infected with HIV.

Maruschak, Laura M., HIV in Prisons, 2001, Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin, January 2004.

The CDC has used informal methods to estimate recent HIV incidence as approximately 40 000 infections per year and current prevalence as 800,000 to 900,000 persons living with HIV.*

Karon, John M. PhD; Fleming, Patricia L. PhD; Steketee, Richard W. MD; De Cock, Kevin M. MD. HIV in the United States at the Turn of the Century: An Epidemic in Transition, American Journal of Public Health, Vol 91(7), pp 1060-1068, July 2001

*Based on a US population of 281,422,000 (U.S. 2000 Census figure) prevalence rates would be .3%. Therefore, U.S. prison HIV rates (2% - 1.2%) are 4 – 6 times higher than in the general population.

Roughly 14% of inmates interviewed reported that they had been sexually targeted by other inmates. (OK)(D)

Hensley, C., Tewksbury, R., and Castle, T. “Characteristics of Prison Sexual Assault Targets in Male Oklahoma Correctional Facilities,” Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Vol. 18, No. 6, June 2003, 595-606.

The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics official count of crime in America doesn't include any incidents that occur behind bars. And as far as independent studies are concerned, they are few and far between. However, "The most rigorous study was conducted by researchers Wayne Wooden and Jay Parker, in 1980. They found that 14 percent of the inmates had been "pressured into having sex against their will," a figure the researchers said was probably an undercount......It is possible to extrapolate from these small studies and hazard a guess about how many prisoners across America are victims of sexual aggression:

1. Start with a conservative estimate of 14 percent.
2. Multiply that by the 1.3 million men sitting behind bars right now (1993).
3. You end up with a staggering total: 182,000 victims a year.
4. That's 15,166 a month; 3,500 a week." (Henican 1995:26) Keep in mind these figures represent first time occurrences.

According to Stop Prison Rape, "Once 'turned out', a victim is earmarked for constant further assaults. With a repeat rate very conservatively estimated at every other day, and counting gang rapes as a single incident, this gives at least 7,150 sexual victimizations a day in jails." (Donaldson, 1995:1) To put this into perspective, the total number of "Forcible Rape Offenses" in the United States for 1992, according to the World Almanac, was 109, 060. (World Almanac, 1994) (see entire article for complete citations). (OK) (D)

Losch, William C., “Prison Rape: Our Wake-up Call: Crime and Media.” http://www.fsu.edu/~crimdo/losch.html (6-24-03)

A study published in The Prison Journal, December 2000, showed that 21% of inmates had experienced at least one episode of pressured or forced sex contact since being incarcerated. (OK) (D)

“No Escape: Male Rape in U.S. Prisions,” Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/prison/report.html

This study suggests that a substantial portion of sexual coercions (male) incidents (about 20% in larger prisons) involved prison staff perpetrators. (OK) (D)

Struckman-Johnson, Cindy, and Struckman-Johnson, David, “Sexual Coercion Rates in Seven Midwestern Prison Facilities for Men.” The Prison Journal, Vol. 80 No. 4, December 2000, pp 379-390. Sage Publications.

In a 1994 poll reported in the Boston Globe, 50% of survey respondents agreed that “society accepts inmate sexual assault as part of the price criminals pay for committing crimes.”

Dumond, Robert & Dumond, Doris, “The Treatment of Sexual Assault Victims” Prison Sex” Practice and Policy 82. (Lynne Reinner Publishers, Inc., 2002)

Results of a study of sexual coercion in seven Midwestern prison facilities for men showed that 21% of male inmates had experienced at least one episode of pressured or forced sexual contact since incarceration and 16% reported that an incident has occurred in their current facility. At least 7% of the sample had been raped in their current facility. (OK) (D)

Struckman-Johnson, Cindy, and Struckman-Johnson, David, “Sexual Coercion Rates in Seven Midwestern Prison Facilities for Men.” The Prison Journal, Vol. 80 No. 4, December 2000, pp 379-390. Sage Publications.

Juveniles housed in adult prisons:

• 8 times more likely to commit suicide  
• 5 times more likely to be sexually assaulted,
• 2 times more likely to be assaulted by staff
• 50 percent more likely to be attacked with a weapon compared to juveniles in juvenile facilities.

Martin Forst, Jeffrey Fagan, and T. Scott Vivona, Youths in Prison and Training Schools: Perceptions and Consequences of the Treatment -Custody Dichotomy. Juvenile and Family Court Journal, 40, (1989): 1-14.

• There are 138,000 women in state and federal prisons. In federal women's correctional facilities, 70 % of guards are male.
• Sometimes correctional officials subject female inmates to rape, other sexual assault, sexual extortion, and groping during body searches.
• Sometimes male correctional officials watch women undressing and using the shower and toilet.
• Rape of inmates is considered to be torture according to both the UN Convention against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the US has ratified.
• The UN Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) includes the right not to be subjected to gender-based violence. The US has not ratified yet it.