In all 50 states, the AP found cases where staff allegedly used inmate work assignments to lure women to isolated spots, out of view of security cameras. The prisoners said they were attacked while doing jobs like kitchen or laundry duty inside correctional facilities or in work-release programs that placed them at private businesses like national fast-food restaurants and hotel chains.
“The only thing you’re thinking about when you’re coming into intake is, ‘How am I going to stay safe?’” said Johanna Mills of Just Detention International, a nonprofit organization working to end sexual violence behind bars. When she was incarcerated, she said her boss smashed her in the head and raped her after bringing her to an empty gym one night to do electrical work. “It never occurred to me to watch my back from the supervisor,” she said.
As part of a two-year investigation that has exposed everything from multinational companies benefiting from prison labor to incarcerated workers’ lack of rights and protections, AP reporters spoke to more than 100 current and former prisoners nationwide, including women who said they were sexually abused by correctional staff.
my ex spent time in a woman’s prison in Georgia. she used to describe pretty much exactly this. among many other horrible things. it’s funny, in America there’s this common perception that the other prisoners are the scary part of prison. no, it’s the guards. they would find any excuse to beat people and rape was a nearly daily occurrence for some.
the majority of her time served was before her trial or sentencing or anything. there is shockingly little difference between how we treat a person arrested, but still presumed innocent, and someone found guilty and in prison.
The dehumanization of victims of the carceral system is extreme.