Women in Prison: Sexual Misconduct by Correctional Staff

During the 1990s, most U.S. correctional jurisdictions have recognized that staff-on-inmate sexual misconduct is a problem that should not be tolerated. As of April 1999, the federal government, 41 states (including California and Texas), and the District of Columbia had passed laws criminalizing certain types of staff sexual misconduct in prisons. Also, most U.S. correctional systems have participated in training to help them develop and implement applicable policies and procedures to address such misconduct. The four correctional systems we studied have or were in the process of developing specific policies that prohibit staff sexual misconduct.