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45 N.Y. L. Sch. L. Rev. 281 (2001-2002)
Custodial Sexual Abuse: Enforcing Long-Awaited Policies Designed to Protect Female Prisoners

handle is hein.journals/nyls45 and id is 303 raw text is: CUSTODIAL SEXUAL ABUSE: ENFORCING LONG-AWAITED POLICIES DESIGNED TO PROTECT FEMALE PRISONERS When I went to prison, I was supposed to give up my liberty-but not my soul.' I. INTRODUCTION This note addresses the prevalence of custodial sexual abuse in women's prisons and the inadequate remedies that are available to fe- male prisoners. Custodial sexual abuse includes rape, sexual assault, the use of authority to coerce sexual relations, unwanted touching, and verbal harassment.2 A common legal channel for women seeking civil redress for their victimization is under the Eighth Amendment.3 An Eighth Amend- ment violation occurs when two requirements are met.4 First, the al- leged injury must be objectively serious.5 Second, the prison guard must have had a subjective mindset of deliberate indifference at the time of the alleged injury.6 Due to the demanding nature of the sub- jective prong of an Eighth Amendment violation,7 it is difficult for women to obtain positive results within the legal system.8 Accordingly, this note advocates that an independent agency should be established to monitor the prison guards' behavior and that a prison should be held vicariously liable for a guard's abuse of authority. Part I of this note explores the history of custodial sexual abuse. It also describes the types of women that are incarcerated and the nature of the guards' duties. Moreover, this section introduces the various 1. Not Part of My Sentence: Violations of the Human Rights of Women in Custody at http://www.amnestyusa.org/rightsforall/women/stories/robin.html (1999). 2. See All Too Familiar: Sexual Abuse of Women in US. State Prisons at http:// www.hrw.org/hrw/summaries/s.us96d.html (Dec. 1996). 3. See, e.g., Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825 (1994); Women Prisoners of the D.C. Dep't of Corr. v. District of Columbia, 93 F.3d 910 (D.C. Cir. 1996); Adkins v. Rodriguez, 59 F.3d 1034 (10th Cir. 1995). 4. See Farmer, 511 U.S. at 834. 5. See id. 6. See id. 7. See id. 8. See Adkins, 59 F.3d 1034.

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