Sexual Violence Reported by Correctional Authorities, 2004

On September 4, 2003, President George W. Bush signed into law the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003. The legislation requires the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) to develop new national data collections on the incidence and prevalence of sexual violence within correctional facilities. This report fulfills the requirement under Sec. 4 (c)(1) of the act for submission of an annual report on the activities of the Bureau with respect to prison rape.

As an initial step in a multiphase implementation strategy, BJS completed the first-ever national survey of administrative records on sexual violence in adult and juvenile correctional facilities. Although data are limited to incidents reported to correctional authorities during 2004, the survey provides an understanding of how administrators respond to sexual violence. The survey also collects basic counts of substantiated incidents, characteristics of victims and perpetrators, and sanctions imposed. (Excerpt)