Stopping Prison Rape: The Evolution of Standards Recommended by PREA's National Prison Rape Elimination Commission

The authors, one a past member of the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission (NPREC), review the historic literature on solutions to prison sexual assault. We contend that pressure for humanitarian treatment of inmates as well as other forces internal and external to the prison system brought about the 2003 Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) and NPREC. We review the 40 standards to stop prison rape in adult prisons and jails proposed by NPREC in 2009 and compare their scope to solutions from past literature. We recommend that the effectiveness of NPREC standards be evaluated and that the search for solutions continue.