The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was passed in the year 2003 with huge support from the Congress. The main reason why the act passed and supported is a way of providing an analysis of the Rape cases as well as the effects of prison rape in the states and providing adequate information on crime on the local institution. We are all in agreement that the police the employees in the police institution or prisons should not harass the arrestee sexually. However, they should safeguard their custody and make sure that wherever they are around the jail institution, they are safe. That is the primary role of Prison Rape Elimination Act which enforces the law by preventing harassment as well as assaults. PREA addresses sexual assault of the people who are held in custody as well as identifying the police temporary holdings cells and lockups. PREA has set up a commission known as the National Prison Elimination Commission which its purpose is to gather the appropriate information identifying the problem, hold the hearing in the country on prison rape and more importantly develops standards to prevent prison or custody rape cases (Manual, 2017)..
After the Congress passed PREA, it has tried to reduce the sex assault cases in prison. The legislators were to create a department which was to deal with these cases as well as setting the intolerance policies towards the abuse of inmates. The department would ensure that the inmates get screened as a way of identifying. Additionally, correctional officers to be instructed on behavior which constitutes sexual abuse and abusers should get punished accordingly. By punishing the abusers, it will act as a warning to the guards or police who may have an idea of sexual assaulting the arrestee. Before the department was set, many inmates were raped unheard. Millions of people who were attacked unheard or talking out.
Sexual abuse is not inevitable characteristic of incarnation since leadership administrators are creating a culture which will promote and facilitate safety to the inmates. Some reports that were released by the human right which acted as a catalyst in creating public awareness on prison rape which as a result the federal legislation was pushed to address the issue of sexual assault behind bars. Many considered the legislative protection of the prisoners was preferably a way of creating and expanding their legal rights. The proposed solutions of rape cases have developed the prisoners right of suing the correctional officials to represent a sensible solution to the issue that for a more extended period have been there unnoticed and happening unheard.
However, despite the fact that it took a long time like a period of ten years for PREA to meet its standards it has finally come to be. They have reached their goal of trying to eliminate the cases of prison rape, and the commission that was created has enabled PREA to collect adequate information which has helped it meet its standard. The services offered to the victims such as confidential rape crisis hotline, mental health counseling, medical exams carried out by sexual assault nurses, advocating victims right, give the victims opportunity a right to open up whenever they are assaulted and feel that they have a right to report the act (Robertson, 2004)
Nevertheless, PREA has made many efforts in trying to eliminate the Prison Rape and Assault cases but there many things they should have considered. While conducting research, it should not be done once and coming up with the solution on the matter since things changes after some time. Therefore I would suggest that the research and investigations be carried out frequently like after every five years. Hence, this will enable PREA, and the commission gathers information about sexual assault behind bars. PREA should have set up agencies that were required to give imposition on the disciplinary measures if the staff did not report their idea or provided enough information related to sexual abuse. More our systems are the main problem since they run on a culture of violence where every official is driven by power and sex too. Therefore, if we change the culture within our jail system, we can be in a position to diminished prison rape case entirely. Administrators in prison and jails must be willing to come up with solutions on how to restore justice as well as reducing violence by implementing programs and coming up with a number of them.
When this approaches and applications get applied by staff in uniform as well as the administrators will create a space of reducing sexual assault as well as demanding accountability from the correctional individuals and inmates hence ensuring that each person respects the values of humanity (Manual, 2017).
Ted Koppel was a BBC reporter who reported a rampant case in the American correctional facilities where inmates undergo a lot of harassment as well as rape by the officials and administrator. His report was an eye opener since it made Citizens understand how the American Correctional facilities had people who did not value humanity. After interviewing some inmates, they described how prison was a threat like any other deadly disease like AIDS and cancer. A cook Mr. Kerry was raped, and after some DNA test, it was indeed the truth that he was assaulted and sexually harassed (KOPPEL, 2017). After revealing their experiences, it becomes an eye opener for the legislator to come up with the Prison Rape Elimination Act.
References
Manual, N. C. (2017). Prison Rape Elimination Act. POLICY, 902, 1.
Robertson, J. E. (2004). The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003: A Primer. CRIMINAL LAW BULLETIN-BOSTON-., 40(3), 270-279.
KOPPEL, S. (2017). Hot House: Leavenworth Prison.
