The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was passed in 2003 with unanimous support from both parties in Congress. The purpose of the act was to “provide for the analysis of the incidence and effects of prison rape in Federal, State, and local institutions and to provide information, resources, recommendations and funding to protect individuals from prison rape.” (Prison Rape Elimination Act, 2003). In addition to creating a mandate for significant research from the Bureau of Justice Statistics and through the National Institute of Justice, funding through the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the National Institute of Corrections supported major efforts in many state correctional, juvenile detention, community corrections, and jail systems.
The act also created the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission and charged it with developing draft standards for the elimination of prison rape. Those standards were published in June 2009, and were turned over to the Department of Justice for review and passage as a final rule. That final rule became effective August 20, 2012.
In 2010, the Bureau of Justice Assistance funded the National PREA Resource Center to continue to provide federally funded training and technical assistance to states and localities, as well as to serve as a single-stop resource for leading research and tools for all those in the field working to come into compliance with the federal standards.
The act also created the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission and charged it with developing draft standards for the elimination of prison rape. Those standards were published in June 2009, and were turned over to the Department of Justice for review and passage as a final rule. That final rule became effective August 20, 2012.
In 2010, the Bureau of Justice Assistance funded the National PREA Resource Center to continue to provide federally funded training and technical assistance to states and localities, as well as to serve as a single-stop resource for leading research and tools for all those in the field working to come into compliance with the federal standards.
*Statistics:
- 80,600 is the estimated number of inmates who experience sexual violence in prison or jail every year.
- 60% of all sexual violence against inmates is perpetrated by jail or prison staff.
- More than 50% of the sexual contact between inmate and staff member—all of which is illegal—is non-consensual.
- 32 people per 1,000 were sexually abused in jail.
- 40 people per 1,000 were sexually abused in prison.
- 95 youths per 1,000 were sexually abused in juvenile detention facilities.
- A prisoner’s likelihood of becoming a victim of sexual assault is roughly thirty times higher than that of any given woman on the outside.
- Nearly 200,000 people total were sexually violated in American detention facilities in 2011.
Georgia's PREA Report for 2016
Georgia's PREA Report for 2015
Georgia's PREA Report for 2014
Georgia's PREA Report for 2013
Georgia's PREA Report for 2012
Georgia's PREA Report for 2015
Georgia's PREA Report for 2014
Georgia's PREA Report for 2013
Georgia's PREA Report for 2012
Trigger Warning: The following video is provided by Just Detention International:
References:
*Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Sexual Victimization in Prisons and Jails Reported by Inmates, 2011-2012 (2013).
