An anonymous survey of 1,800 men and women in a Midwestern state priso
n system revealed that 104 of 516 respondents (20%) had been pressured
or forced at least once to have sexual contact against their will whi
le incarcerated. Supporting the validity of this finding, a sample of
staff estimated that the sexual coercion rate was 15%. The reported in
cident rate was 22% for male and 7% for female respondents. Based upon
descriptions of worst case incidents, at least 50% of sexual targets
had been forced to have intercourse (anal, vaginal, or oral), with one
fourth of the cases qualifying as gang rape. Another 10% of targets w
ere subjected to an attempt at forced intercourse. One fourth of targe
ts reported less severe cases of forced and pressured sexual touching.
Prison staff were reported as perpetrators in 18% of the incidents. M
ost targets rated the immediate and long-term effects of the incident
as very negative. One half of the targets did not tell anyone about th
e incident, and only 29% reported the incident to prison authorities.
We encourage social scientists to conduct research on prison sexual co
ercion to aid in treatment of victim, HIV management, and development
of prevention strategies.