Week 7: Prison Rape
Life in prison is very difficult, but for some prisoners, it can be incredibly scary and life-threatening. Rape is unfortunately a very common problem in the prison system. It also seems to be a more common problem amongst male prisoners versus female prisoners. The video clip that I have attached is a clip from the documentary No Escape: Prison Rape which is a documentary by Gabriel Films, and is helping to bring funding to the Human Rights Watch. This organization is working hard to help prevent prison rape, along with the training of police officers and those who work in prisons to help with preventing rape.
This clip is about a young seventeen year old boy Rodney Hullin, who committed suicide in prison after being a victim of multiple cases of sexual abuse, along with mental and emotional distress. Along with being raped several times, he tried to get assistance from the prison itself, by applying for grievances to help give him protected custody, but unfortunately those were turned down twice. After suffering for so long, and not getting any help he eventually ended his life. This is the case of many inmates who are not given any assistance from prison guards or officials, because the prisoners feel as though they is no other hope and they will be killed anyway by their fellow inmates.
At the end of the clip there are some interesting statistics provided by the Human Rights Watch. Over 150,000 males inmates each year are raped in United States prisons, whether it be by other inmates or by guards or officials. Not only are these victims raped once, but on average they are raped at least nine more times. Like the video says in most prisons, there is a “pecking” order for the inmates, and unfortunately those who are lowest in the order can become easy victims for those that are higher up. That was the case in this video, where Rodney was too low, and was taken advantage of.
