Later this month Wisconsin will become the first state to post online statistics about sexual assault, abuse and harassment occurring in state prisons.
Publicly posting prison rape statistics is required for all states under the Federal Prison Rape Elimination Act. Marion Morgan is in charge of making sure Wisconsin complies with all the act’s requirements for reporting, investigating and punishing those who violate the zero tolerance policy for sexual abuse behind bars.
“There is nothing that mandates that it be done out in the community,” says Morgan. “There’s nothing that mandates that it be done in our schools, churches, [or] other institutions where you see rampant sexual abuse occurring. Corrections is the only institution that is mandated to address this issue.”
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This year in Wisconsin through July there were 354 allegations of sexual harassment, abuse or sexual assaults between inmates or inmates and staff. But only one allegation of an actual inmate-on-inmate rape was substantiated and only 3 sexual misconduct charges were proven between staff and inmates – a slight decrease in both categories from last year.
Morgan says one goal of publicly posting the numbers is to change public attitudes about rape in prison.
“People believe that what happens behind the walls stays behind the walls,” she says. “The reality is 95 to 97 percent of our inmates return to the community and if they’re sexually traumatized while in detention that’s going inhibit their ability to successfully reenter.”
The most recent national numbers from 2011 shows 80,000 prison inmates reported at least one incident of sexual abuse by an inmate or prison guard.
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