I Hope He Gets Raped In Jail

03.14.11

Those are words I’ve never heard when talking about a female predator.

Recently I read about a heinous crime. The reactions surrounding it all alluded to sexual assault being part of the jail experience. Rob people, get raped in prison, that’s the punishment.

One of the many problems I have with this is the terrible set up it is for men who are sexually assaulted. By taking a horrifying, painful and dehumanizing experience and turning it into the punchline of a joke or the accepted consequence of bad behavior we make it virtually impossible for men who have been assaulted to speak out.

I don’t care all that much about how we treat our prisoners because I’m an altruist. What I worry about is what we’re teaching our men and our boys. I worry about the unintended consequences.

 

 

  • Anonymous

    Ugh. I had that same problem when I was young. Unfortunately for me, my parents were never good about remembering punishments for longer than a day or so. After failing out of 3 different colleges, 10 years of abject poverty and the humiliation of working a menial job that I loathe for those entire 10 years and having to watch my friends grow up, get cool jobs and nice homes and have weddings while I always answered “Yes” to “Hey, you still at that job?”, I have learned my lesson and am back in school, turning in my assignments. Maybe she’ll learn the lesson now instead of the really hard way.

    • http://jessicagottlieb.com JessicaGottlieb

      I’ll go in and fix it for you.

  • Anonymous

    I hate the overuse of the word rape so much. I was reading a critical essay by Mellon rgd Shelley’s Frankenstein and for my presentation I laid into her about her overuse of the word. There was not a single incident of sexual assault in that book, it should not have been used.

    • Anonymous

      The word rape in the past has also been used to describe forceful, violent seizure or abuse. Since the book was written in the early 1800s…It’s fully likely to assume the word would have had that meaning at the time. (Forinstance…in the mid 1600s, the word “prestige” used to mean a trick, or deceit, now it has a totally different meaning; a reputation of influence or success.)

  • http://twitter.com/mcjazzbass Mike Cornelison

    “I Hope He Gets Raped in Jail” – and here I was clicking on that to find out what kind of heinous crime would inspire you to wish that on someone.

  • http://twitter.com/linzlovesyou Lindsay Goldner

    The only time I’ve ever hoped for that is for someone who has themself raped someone. The men/boys who assaulted and raped me? Absolutely wish it upon them so that they can truly realize what a horrific act that was to commit against another human being.

  • http://twitter.com/alexandra90210 Beverly Hills Mom

    It’s kind of like when everyone compares everyone they don’t like to Hitler – it minimizes the horror.

  • Anonymous

    I also think it’s creepy that anyone is so interested in imaging the sexual assault of another.

    And technically…since PREA, the guards are bound by law to prevent a sexual attack. If a prisoner claims a rape occured, the guards on duty at the time could be prosecuted.

  • http://twitter.com/PJLincoln Paul J. Lincoln

    It’s a bad message, I agree, that somehow further violence is justified. The cycle has to stop somewhere.

    With respect to your comment about prisoners, I think all people deserve to be treated humanely. It’s counter-productive to treat prisoners like dogs or sub-human – because the majority of them will eventually be released into society. Not saying they should be treated like guests at a hotel, but going to the other extreme leads to more crime and more violence.