Allen J. Beck, Ph.D., Bureau of Justice Statistics

June 13, 2013    NCJ 242114

The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA; P.L. 108-79) requires the Attorney General to submit to Congress, not later than June 30 of each year, a report on the activities of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) for the preceding calendar year. This document fulfills this requirement. During 2012-13, BJS completed the third National Inmate Survey (NIS-3) in state and federal prisons and local jails. The NIS-3 provided the first-ever national-level estimates of sexual victimization of youth ages 16 to 17 held in adult facilities and estimates of sexual victimization among inmates with a history of mental health problems. During the year, BJS also completed the second National Survey of Youth in Custody (NSYC-2), which provided national estimates, facility-level estimates for large facilities, and state-level estimates of sexual victimization of youth held in juvenile facilities by type of victimization. It also included new measures for assessing the accuracy of youth self-reports and for understanding staff sexual misconduct.

Highlights:

• In 2011-12, an estimated 4.0% of state and federal prison inmates and 3.2% of jail inmates reported experiencing one or more incidents of sexual victimization by another inmate or facility staff in the past 12 months or since admission to the facility, if less than 12 months. See Sexual Victimization in Prisons and Jails Reported by Inmates, 2011-12.
• Using the same methodology since 2007, the change in rate of sexual victimization among state and federal prison inmates over the three surveys (4.5% in 2007, 4.4% in 2008-09, and 4.0% in 2011-12) was not statistically significant. Among jail inmates, the rate of sexual victimization was nearly unchanged—3.2% in 2007, 3.1% in 2008-09, and 3.2% in 2011-12.
• Among state and federal prison inmates, 2.0% (or an estimated 29,300 prisoners) reported an incident involving another inmate, 2.4% (34,100) reported an incident involving facility staff, and 0.4% (5,500) reported both an incident by another inmate and staff.
• About 1.6% of jail inmates (11,900) reported an incident with another inmate, 1.8% (13,200) reported an incident with staff, and 0.2% (2,400) reported both an incident by another inmate and staff.
• From 2007 to 2011-12, reports of willing sexual activity with staff (excluding touching) declined in prisons and jails, while reports of other types of sexual victimization remained stable.
• An estimated 9.5% of adjudicated youth in state juvenile facilities and state contract facilities (representing 1,720 youth nationwide) reported experiencing one or more incidents of sexual victimization by another youth or staff in the past 12 months or since admission, if less than 12 months. See Sexual Victimization in Juvenile Facilities Reported by Youth, 2012.
• About 67.7% of youth victimized by another youth reported experiencing physical force or threat of force, 25.2% were offered favors or protection, and 18.1% were given drugs or alcohol to engage in sexual contact.

Part of the PREA Data Collection Activities Series

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