JAMES POPKIE
The Cord (Wilfrid Laurier University)

Inmates live their lives under constant monitoring, and yet they are more likely to be raped than the general population. What’s funny about that?

WATERLOO (CUP) — Over 216,000 prisoners were raped in U.S. prisons in 2008.

Similarly, at least 9.6 per cent of prisoners will be raped during their time behind bars. These figures are likely far lower than they should be due to the vast number of unreported incidents. Unofficial estimates peg the real number of victims at somewhere between 14 and 23 per cent of prison victims.

Canadian statistics on sexual assaults in prisons are harder to find, but there is no reason to expect the numbers to vary significantly. Prison rape is often joked about and depicted in movies and television as a simple fact of life in the penal system.

While shows like Oz and Prison Break have depicted this topic with the level of gravity it deserves, many other shows and movies use it as a source of cheap comedy.

I would never advocate censorship, and I don’t believe any topic should be off-limits for jokes. In this particular case, however, the sheer volume of jokes regarding rape in prison is highly indicative of society’s attitude, which is that the rape of prisoners is a laughing matter.

The idea that it’s okay to laugh at a prisoner being raped stems from the notion that it is a form of karmic justice, an unofficial punishment on top of the official punishment of prison itself.

All sexual assault should be condemned, of course. Most people can agree with that sentiment. But even people who do agree with that point sometimes defend prisoner rape because they believe those who have committed certain crimes deserve such treatment.

There are many people who would never defend rape in any other circumstance, but consider such a horrific violation is a type of just desserts when a prison inmate is the victim. People who think this way see prison rape as part of a package deal of sentencing. If you’re convicted of the crime, you do the time. And while you do the time, you endure whatever should happen to you behind bars, including potentially being raped by other prisoners or guards.

This mentality is barbaric and has no place in the modern world.

Regardless of a prisoner’s criminal or personal history, whether they’re in jail for something minor or for something as serious as murder or sexual assault, inmate rape should never be tolerated by either prison officials or society at large.

Yet it is tolerated by both. The institutionalized nature of prison rape is great cause for concern: it says something deeply disturbing about us, members of the kind of society that tacitly condones such inhumane treatment of some of its most vulnerable members.

Inmate rape takes place within a government-run facility. It is tolerated and ignored by prison officials enough that it could in some ways be considered an officially sanctioned part of prison life. While eliminating prison rape completely is probably a pipe dream, the sheer prevalence of these instances shows that there is a tolerance of prison violence among many of the guards.

A prison sentence involves doing time for a crime, time away from society, away from one’s family and friends, confined in one building, lacking many of the freedoms that normal life involves.

While prison is meant to be a punishment, even the most hardened criminals deserve to maintain a base level of humanity that includes not being raped under government surveillance.

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Photo: Derekskey/Flickr