Stop Prisoner Rape (SPR) Welcomes New Report on Prison Conditions

Los Angeles, June 8, 2006

Stop Prisoner Rape (SPR), a national human rights organization, welcomes today’s release of Confronting Confinement, a report by the independent Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons.

The report highlights a number of shortcomings that plague U.S. prisons and jails, including: insufficient medical and mental health services for detainees; overcrowding; careless inmate classification systems; and a lack of external scrutiny of detention facilities. SPR’s own evidence shows clearly that these systemic problems contribute to the rampant sexual abuse in U.S. corrections facilities.

“The conclusions of Confronting Confinement make clear that the U.S. corrections system is facing a serious human rights crisis. In a society governed by the rule of law and a basic belief in human dignity, incarceration is supposed to mean loss of liberty, not violence and humiliation,” said Lovisa Stannow, Co-Executive Director of SPR.

SPR seeks to put an end to sexual violence in all forms of detention. In doing so, SPR works to engender policies that ensure government accountability for prisoner rape, combats flippant and ill-informed attitudes about sexual abuse behind bars, and improves access to services for survivors of this type of violence.

For further information about the work of SPR, or for additional comments about Confronting Confinement, please contact Co-Executive Directors Kathy Hall-Martinez (ext. 104) or Lovisa Stannow (ext. 103), at 213-384-1400.

To access the full text of Confronting Confinement, click here.