The federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) of 2003 addresses sexual abuse that occurs in correctional facilities, including sexual harassment. It defines sexual harassment as:
- Repeated and unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors or verbal comments, gestures or actions of a derogatory or offensive sexual nature by one inmate toward another; and
- Repeated verbal comments or gestures of a sexual nature to an inmate by staff, including demeaning references to gender, sexually suggestive or derogatory comments about body or clothing or obscene language or gestures.
U.S. prison and jail administrators reported from 2013-15 an estimated 15,875 allegations of inmate-on-inmate sexual harassment (Rantala, 2018). Over 2,400 of these allegations were substantiated. There were over 14,310 allegations of staff-on-inmate sexual harassment. Of those allegations, 527 were substantiated.
If you are experiencing sexual harassment as an incarcerated person, follow the sexual abuse reporting procedures for the WV correctional facility in which you are detained. See the website section on Victim Resource Center, Victimization in Detention Settings, reporting sexual abuse in correctional facilities. A designated staff person in each correctional facility/system serves as the PREA representative and accepts reports of sexual harassment (e.g., via phone call/message or e-mail). Additional reporting options may also exist for specific facilities/systems.