US Prisons, Hotbed of Sexual exploitation and Aids
US prisons have a lot of explaining to do as to why aids and HIV is more than the national average.
The Flip side of US prisons
The USA has 2.3million Americans locked up. This is the largest prison population in the world and is growing by the year. Statistics show that the growth of the US prison population is much greater than the growth of the US population.
Prison administration in the USA perhaps leaves a lot to be desired. In the US there are 2 types of prisons namely the state and federal prisons. Federal prisons have 125,000 prisoners as on date and the rest are in state prisons. Administration of state prisons is in the hands of the local state government and its officials.
However some disturbing trends have emerged that point to sexual exploitation of the inmates of the prisons. In particular there is rampant exploitation of women prisoners for sex. This is the harsh truth.
The Bureau of Justice of the USA has come out with some startling figures. In a survey BJS found that 64,500 of the prisoners on the day of the survey confessed that they had been sexually abused. Women were more liable to be sexually abused. Even the Juvenile detention centers surveyed showed that 12.1% of the young boys and girls had been sexually abused during the preceding year.
Sexual exploitation is something that is difficult to explain. One black young woman was sexually abused at least once a day wither by the wardens or the jail officials during her entire term in the prison.
With rampant sexual exploitation another fact has emerged. This shows that the rate of HIV/Aids is much more than the national average. A US citizen is more likely to contract aids during time spent in a US prison. The administration of US prisons needs an overhaul, but with prisoners increasing by the day, this looks a herculean task.