U.S. Department of Justice

PREA / Offender Sexual Abuse

The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA, P.L. 108-79) was enacted by Congress to address the problem of sexual abuse of persons in the custody of U.S. correctional agencies. The National Institute of Corrections has been a leader in this topic area since 2004, providing assistance to many agencies through information and training resources.

Major provisions of PREA include:


  • Adherence to a zero-tolerance standard for the incidence of inmate sexual assault and rape;
  • Development of standards for detection, prevention, reduction, and punishment of prison rape;
  • Collection and dissemination of information on the incidence of prison rape; and
  • Award of grant funds to help state and local governments implement the purposes of the Act.

The Act applies to all public and private institutions that house adult or juvenile offenders and is also relevant to community-based agencies. It addresses both inmate-on-inmate sexual abuse and staff sexual misconduct.

On June 23, 2009, the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission released and forwarded to the U.S. Attorney General its final report and proposed standards to prevent, detect, respond to and monitor sexual abuse of incarcerated and detained individuals. Based on the Attorney General’s independent judgment, a final rule was published to the Federal Register on June 20, 2012.

Links to the Federal Register, the Commission report and executive summary, the final standards, and other relevant documents are provided in the "Related Web Sites" sidebar to the left.


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Recommended Reading

Date Title Type
2012
Document preview
Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Resources
National Institute of Corrections (Washington, DC); The Moss Group, Inc. (Washington, DC).
This DVD contains NIC videos, DOJ proposed standards, an NIC e-course and dozens of documents to help you learn about the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). The disc includes:
  • the E-Course “Your Role: Responding to Sexual Abuse”
The following videos:
  • Facing Prison Rape: How the Prison Rape Elimination Act Affects You
  • Responding to Prisoner Rape: Assessing Your Agency's Response to Prison Sexual Assault
  • Speaking Up: Discussing Prison Sexual Assa... Read More
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1 data DVD
2013
Document preview
Implementing the Prison Rape Elimination Act: Toolkit for Jails
National Institute of Corrections (Washington, DC); NIC-12RE05GKJ5.. The Moss Group, Inc. (Washington, DC).
UPDATED 1/24/13: Added missing checklists. “The goal of this Toolkit is to provide jails of all sizes, political divisions, and geographic locations with a step-by-step guide for preventing, detecting, and eliminating sexual abuse of inmates in their custody – and for responding effectively to abuse when it occurs. Prison rape includes all forms of inmate sexual abuse within a correctional facility, including state and federal prisons, county and municipal jails, police lock-ups, holding facilit... Read More
PDF
1 computer file
2013
Document preview
Implementing the Prison Rape Elimination Act: Toolkit for Juvenile Agencies and Facilities
NIC-12RE05GKJ5; National Institute of Corrections (Washington, DC). The Moss Group, Inc. (Washington, DC).
“The goal of this Toolkit is to provide juvenile agencies and facilities of all sizes, political divisions, and geographic locations with a step-by-step guide for preventing, detecting, and eliminating sexual abuse of residents in their custody – and for responding effectively to abuse when it occurs. Prison rape includes all forms of resident sexual abuse within a correctional facility, including state and federal prisons, county and municipal jails, police lock-ups, holding facilities, residen... Read More
PDF
1 computer file
2012
Document preview
PREA Data Collection Activities, 2012
By Beck, Allen J.. U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (Washington, DC).
Selected findings are provided from various data collection activities related to the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). Data was collected from the National Former Prisoner Survey (NFPS), National Survey of Youth in Custody (NSYC), National Inmate Survey (NIS), Survey of Sexual Violence (SSV), and the Clinical Indicators of Sexual Violence in Custody (CISVC).... Read More
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4 pages

Related Resources

Date Title Type
2013
Document preview
Implementing the Prison Rape Elimination Act: Toolkit for Jails
National Institute of Corrections (Washington, DC); NIC-12RE05GKJ5.. The Moss Group, Inc. (Washington, DC).
UPDATED 1/24/13: Added missing checklists. “The goal of this Toolkit is to provide jails of all sizes, political divisions, and geographic locations with a step-by-step guide for preventing, detecting, and eliminating sexual abuse of inmates in their custody – and for responding effectively to abuse when it occurs. Prison rape includes all forms of inmate sexual abuse within a correctional facility, including state and federal prisons, county and municipal jails, police lock-ups, holding facilit... Read More
PDF
1 computer file
2013
Document preview
Implementing the Prison Rape Elimination Act: Toolkit for Jails
National Institute of Corrections (Washington, DC); NIC-12RE05GKJ5.. The Moss Group, Inc. (Washington, DC).
UPDATED 1/24/13: Added missing checklists. “The goal of this Toolkit is to provide jails of all sizes, political divisions, and geographic locations with a step-by-step guide for preventing, detecting, and eliminating sexual abuse of inmates in their custody – and for responding effectively to abuse when it occurs. Prison rape includes all forms of inmate sexual abuse within a correctional facility, including state and federal prisons, county and municipal jails, police lock-ups, holding facilit... Read More
PDF
1 computer file
2013
Document preview
Sexual Victimization in Prisons and Jails Reported by Inmates, 2011–12
By Beck, Allen J.; Berzofsky, Marcus; Caspar, Rachel; Krebs, Christopher. U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (Washington, DC).
This report present statistics regarding the sexual victimization of prison and jail inmates by other inmates or staff. Sections of this publication cover: highlights; National Inmate Survey; incidents of sexual victimizations; facility-level rates; demographic and other characteristics; special inmate populations—inmates ages 16 to 17; special inmate populations—inmates with mental health problems; and special inmate populations—inmates with a non-heterosexual sexual orientation. Some of the ke... Read More

108 pages
2013
Document preview
Implementing the Prison Rape Elimination Act: Toolkit for Juvenile Agencies and Facilities
NIC-12RE05GKJ5; National Institute of Corrections (Washington, DC). The Moss Group, Inc. (Washington, DC).
“The goal of this Toolkit is to provide juvenile agencies and facilities of all sizes, political divisions, and geographic locations with a step-by-step guide for preventing, detecting, and eliminating sexual abuse of residents in their custody – and for responding effectively to abuse when it occurs. Prison rape includes all forms of resident sexual abuse within a correctional facility, including state and federal prisons, county and municipal jails, police lock-ups, holding facilities, residen... Read More
PDF
1 computer file
2013
Document preview
Updated Inventory of Evidence-based, Research-based, and Promising Practices For Prevention and Intervention Services for Children and Juveniles in the Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice, and Mental Health Systems
Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) (Olympia, WA); University of Washington. Evidence-Based Practice Institute (EBPI) (Seattle, WA).
This inventory includes those mental health, child welfare, and juvenile justice intervention and prevention services that are provided to children and juveniles in Washington State and are considered to use promising practices. A promising practice is one that “based on statistical analyses or a well-established theory of change, shows potential for meeting the “evidence-based” or “research-based” criteria, which could include the use of a program that is evidence-based for outcomes other than ... Read More

12 pages
2013
Document preview
Building Cost-Benefit Analysis Capacity in Criminal Justice: Notes from a Roundtable Discussion
By Chiu, Tina. U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance (Washington, DC). Vera Institute of Justice. Cost-Benefit Knowledge Bank for Criminal Justice (CBKB) (New York, NY) .
“Interest in using cost-benefit analysis (CBA) to help in criminal justice policymaking and planning has grown in recent years as state and local budgets have become increasingly strained. Most jurisdictions, however, have not been able to create a sustained capacity to produce and use CBA in decision making and budgeting. The Vera Institute of Justice organized a roundtable discussion to examine what factors might help jurisdictions build lasting capacity to use and perform CBA … The discussion... Read More

16 pages
2013
Document preview
Addressing Sexual Violence Against Youth in Custody: Youth Workers’ Handbook on Identifying and Addressing Sexual Violence in Juvenile Justice Settings
By Smith, Brenda V.; Yarussi, Jamie M.. National Institute of Corrections (Washington, DC). National Institute of Corrections (Washington, DC); Smith Consulting (Washington, DC); American University. Washington College of Law. Project on Addressing Prison Rape (Washington, DC).
“Sexual abuse in custody can and often does have lifelong effects on youth. Youth who are sexually abused or experience sexual violence can suffer higher rates of drug use, have disproportionate contact with the criminal justice system into adulthood, become victimizers, and/or have higher rates of mental illness than youth who do not suffer sexual abuse.1 In addition, sexual abuse by staff or other youth in custody compromises safety and security as well as the overall mission of juvenile justi... Read More
PDF
78 pages
2013
Document preview
An Update on Jail Strip Searches of General Population Detainees
“In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 vote, decided Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders, #10-945, 132 S. Ct. 1510, 2012 U.S. Lexis 2712. It changed the landscape, abandoning a focus on the need for a detailed analysis of the presence or absence of reasonable suspicion to justify the carrying out of a strip search. For the Court’s majority, the focus shifted to a less murky dividing line, based on whether an incoming detainee, regardless of what they are charged with or whether there is ... Read More
PDF
9 pages
2013
Document preview
An Update on Jail Strip Searches of General Population Detainees
“In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 vote, decided Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders, #10-945, 132 S. Ct. 1510, 2012 U.S. Lexis 2712. It changed the landscape, abandoning a focus on the need for a detailed analysis of the presence or absence of reasonable suspicion to justify the carrying out of a strip search. For the Court’s majority, the focus shifted to a less murky dividing line, based on whether an incoming detainee, regardless of what they are charged with or whether there is ... Read More
PDF
9 pages
2013
Document preview
Statewide Criminal Justice Recidivism and Revocation Rates
Texas Legislative Budget Board (Austin, TX).
“This report summarizes the analysis of reincarceration rates for adult offenders who were released from prisons, state jails, Substance Abuse Felony Punishment Facilities, In-Prison Therapeutic Community program, and Intermediate Sanction Facilities in fiscal years 2006 and 2007; and rearrest rates for adult offenders released from prisons and state jails in fiscal years 2005 and 2006. In addition, this report summarizes reincarceration rates for juveniles released from the Texas Youth Commissi... Read More
PDF
118 pages
2013
Document preview
Statewide Criminal Justice Recidivism and Revocation Rates
Texas Legislative Budget Board (Austin, TX).
“This report summarizes the analysis of reincarceration rates for adult offenders who were released from prisons, state jails, Substance Abuse Felony Punishment Facilities, In-Prison Therapeutic Community program, and Intermediate Sanction Facilities in fiscal years 2006 and 2007; and rearrest rates for adult offenders released from prisons and state jails in fiscal years 2005 and 2006. In addition, this report summarizes reincarceration rates for juveniles released from the Texas Youth Commissi... Read More
PDF
118 pages
2013
Document preview
The Green Corrections Project: Action Plans and Lessons Learned
By Davidson, Stephanie. National Institute of Corrections (Washington, DC).
This report is a great description of the three-phase Green Corrections project, sponsored by the National Institute of Corrections (NIC). The following sections comprise this publication: overview of the project; “The Greening of Corrections: Creating a Sustainable System”—the publication and its dissemination; developing a community of practice and providing technical assistance to states; application process; Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington addressing a different technical assistance need... Read More
PDF
6 pages

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Available Training Opportunities

  • Available Online - Your Role: Responding to Sexual Abuse
    This e-course is designed to enhance correctional professionals’ skills in responding to incidents and allegations of sexual abuse.
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