BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK/KBFX) — A federal investigation has found what the U.S. Department of Justice described as a longstanding pattern of sexual misconduct by staff at two California women’s prisons, raising concerns about incarcerated women’s safety and their constitutional rights.
The Justice Department said California failed to protect women from sexual abuse and harassment by staff at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla and the California Institution for Women in Chino. Investigators also found problems with confidential reporting, investigations and staff accountability, saying those conditions violate prisoners’ constitutional rights.
Human trafficking and exploitation expert Alana Stott said sexual abuse in prison can be compounded by the power staff hold over incarcerated women, fear of retaliation and the long-term mental and physical health effects.
“There’s a common thing amongst abuse and domestic violence and any of those types of things of why doesn’t she just leave? Well, I mean, then you’ve got the clear example in a prison, she can’t leave,” Stott said.
Stott said the power dynamic can be especially damaging for women who have already experienced abuse. “And then now they’re in this situation again,” she said.
She said fear of retaliation can make reporting abuse more difficult, particularly if incarcerated women do not trust the systems meant to protect them.
“Is there a hierarchy that they’re able to go to? Do they have a whistleblowing system? Is that whistleblowing system adequate? Have they seen other people go through it and then something happens afterwards that maybe they end up getting more time or maybe things happen that they’ve seen it happen with other people?” Stott said.
That fear can also affect how a survivor responds during abuse, Stott said. “You can become very desensitized,” she said. “But a lot of the time when it comes to sexual abuse, especially within these types of settings, it’s the fawn that they’ll go to, which is just just let it happen.”
Stott said the consequences can extend beyond the abuse itself, with survivors facing anxiety, depression, and PTSD.
“And then the increase in obviously suicide risk, if the trauma isn’t being treated, self-harming is very high. And how a victim responds, there isn’t any one way for a victim respond to sexual abuse,” she said.
Stott said trauma treatment is critical both during incarceration and after release.
“These are types of things that would be hugely beneficial in the system for the people that are incarcerated. And because when they reenter society, the more that we’ve helped them heal their traumas, the better they will be as a contributor to society,” she said.
Federal officials said California has 49 days to address the concerns raised about the state’s women’s prisons, or the attorney general could take the state to court.