April 4, 2011 - Human Rights Watch

Justice Department’s Proposal Would Fail to Protect Victims

(New York) - Proposed Justice Department standards to reduce rape in prison are unduly weak and should be significantly improved to protect victims and ensure accountability, Human Rights Watch said today in comments submitted to the department. The Justice Department released its proposed standards under the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) on February 3, 2011, and established a sixty day comment period, ending April 4.

"Congress knew that eliminating prison rape might require changing the way prisons and jails are run, perhaps even spending more," said Jamie Fellner, senior advisor to the US Program at Human Rights Watch and a former commissioner on the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission. "Yet the Justice Department's proposed standards reflect greater concern with appeasing correctional agencies than with protecting adults and youth from sexual abuse." Continue reading...