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NEWS & LETTERS, February - March 2009
Stop prison sex assaults
Detroit--The first two trials in a class-action lawsuit filed in 1996 against the Michigan Dept. of Corrections yielded verdicts awarding the first 18 women -- out of over 500 -- an estimated $50 million. None have been paid as the state appeals the verdict. Prisons and correctional facilities all over the state are accused of failing to prevent sexual assaults by male guards on women prisoners. These assaults routinely included rapes, molestation during pat-downs, and forced sex.
The Michigan Women's Commission (a state agency) in 1993, the U.S. Dept. of Justice in 1995, and Human Rights Watch in 1996 all released reports of the "highly sexualized and excessively hostile" environment in Michigan's prisons. The state made changes such as requiring women correctional officers, rather than men, to pat down women prisoners, removal of male guards from women's housing units, and a requirement to report allegations of sexual abuse to the Michigan State Police as well as the Corrections Dept. Internal Affairs unit.
One of the plaintiffs, Toni Bunton, told the Detroit Free Press (1/4/09): "I want people to know this is going on in your backyard, and you might not care because it might not affect you, but you should care. This is about civil rights, basic fundamental rights of human beings."
Why did it take 12 years for the case to come to trial? And who is protesting sexual abuse in male prisons? Deborah LaBelle, the Michigan attorney who filed the lawsuit said, "No one, no one in this country, no one in a civilized society is sentenced to be raped and assaulted in prison." We can only hope that any victories won by women will be extended to men prisoners too.
--Susan Van Gelder
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