MUTED RESPONSE TO RAPE IN AMERICAN PRISONS

I know quite a few people who think if prisoners get raped behind bars it’s really nothing society should get concerned about. Their attitude stems from the belief that human degradation is part and parcel of life in prison and whatever happens to an inmate is justifiable as expected punishment for whatever landed the prisoner in jail in the first place.

Given the widespread prevalence of that type attitude in America, it comes as no surprise to me that a report on prison rape recently released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics would not garner much media attention or generate a groundswell of support in the population to push for much-needed reform.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reported that last year, at least 88,500 federal, state and local prison inmates were raped or were the victim of a sexual-related assault while in prison. That 88,500 figure included only reported incidents and the (BJS) report acknowledged that the actual figure was, in all probably, significantly higher.

With those kinds of figures floating around, people ought to be upset, but by and large, they're not, and that says something bad about our society!

I think one reason for the massive amount of apathy on this issue in our society is that we've become so adept at the art of depersonalization and demonizing. Whenever we're confronted by somebody who does not share our thoughts, values or code of acceptable conduct, we immediately categorize them in our mind as worthless and something less than human. Once another individual takes on the veneer of a sub-human demon, justifying sub-human treatment of that individual is no longer a big leap. In fact, for many, is becomes the next logical step.

Whether we realize it or not, our attitudes on this kind of matter reflect how we confront many other ethical issues that arise in our life, and I think it behooves us all to take a second look at this subject. If we really want to promote ourselves as being pro-life (in favor of life for all), it seems to me that concept should be applied to everybody, even prisoners.