There are over two million inmates in U.S. jails and prisons, according to U.S. Department of Justice figures. Black men, while comprising just 12 percent of the U.S. population, constitute 44 percent of sentenced inmates in state and federal correctional institutions, the largest group behind bars. Whites account for 36 percent while Hispanics are at 18 percent.
Rape is in no way an inevitable consequence of incarceration.
The group warns that failure to implement measures to prevent and punish inmate rape makes victimization likely. In December 2000, the Prison Journal published a study based on a survey of inmates in seven men s prison facilities in four states. The results showed that 21 percent of the inmates had experienced at least one episode of pressured or forced sexual contact since being incarcerated. According to the report, they were forced to satisfy the sexual appetite of others upon demand, wash clothes, give massages, cook food, clean cells and various other chores. Inmates often are rented out for sex, sold or even auctioned off to other inmates, HRW said.