By Grace Rupp, SART/PREA Policy Specialist
In the United States there are upwards of 60,000 youth under the age of eighteen incarcerated in juvenile jails and prisons across the country. (ACLU). More specifically, in Maryland there are 151 youth incarcerated per one hundred thousand people in the state (Ibid.). Incarcerated juveniles are at an alarming risk for sexual abuse. The National Prison Rape Elimination Commission states that “juveniles in confinement are much more likely than incarcerated adults to be sexually abused, and they are particularly at risk when confined with adults” (NPREC, 2009).
Current research estimates that one in ten youth in juvenile facilities report being sexually abused while in detention in a one-year time period (Beck 2013). Within that reporting period and reporting population, seventy percent of victims report more than one incident of sexual abuse (Ibid.). Youth are also three times more likely to be sexually abused by staff than by other incarcerated youth (Ibid.).
The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) has specific provisions to prevent, detect, and respond to sexual violence amongst youthful inmates. The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) of 2003 is a federal law establishing national standards to prevent and respond to sexual harassment and abuse in prisons, jails, and community and juvenile confinement facilities. PREA seeks to:
The PREA regulations apply to federal, state, juvenile, and local correctional facilities and lockups and highlight the need to protect inmates who hold marginalized identities, specifically youthful inmates. To be effective, sexual abuse prevention, investigation, and treatment must be tailored to the developmental capacities and needs of youth.
PREA defines a youthful inmate as any person under the age of eighteen, regardless of whether they are housed in an adult or juvenile facility. In addition to protections PREA provides for adult survivors, PREA’s Youthful Inmate Standard §115.14 was developed to protect youth in adult facilities by requiring that youth are held in housing where they are sight and sound separated from adults (Prison Rape Elimination Act, 2003). This standard also requires that youthful inmates have direct supervision when they are in sight or sound of incarcerated adults. Outside of sight and sound separations, youthful inmates should have access to sexual assault forensic care, confidential advocacy before and after a sexual assault forensic exam, and access to outside support and legal services.
If young people experience sexual violence while in custody, PREA enables a variety of reporting options, youthful incarcerated survivors can report verbally or in writing to correctional staff, they can receive confidential support by calling the Maryland Prison Rape and Sexual Assault Help Line (855 - 971 - 4700) or they can report anonymously by calling the the Maryland PREA Reporting Hotline (410 - 585 - 3177). Additionally, PREA allows for third-party reporting, meaning that parents, caregivers, or other loved ones can report sexual violence on behalf of the survivor, triggering investigation conducted by the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.
References
Allen J. Beck, et al, Sexual Victimization in Prisons and Jails Reported by Inmates, 2011-12 (May 2013). Bureau of Justice Statistics. Retrieved from: www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/svpjri1112.pdf
America’s addiction to juvenile incarceration: State by State. American Civil Liberties Union. (n.d.).https://www.aclu.org/issues/juvenile-justice/youth-incarceration/americas-addiction-juvenile-incarceration-state-state
National Prison Rape Elimination Commission. (2009). National Prison Rape Elimination Commission Report. Washington, DC. Retrieved from: https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/226680.pdf
National PREA Resource Center. Standards Overview. (2023). Retrieved from: https://www.prearesourcecenter.org/implementation/prea-standards/overview
