HOME | What's New! | Contact Us | Site Map | Sign In
Clearinghouse of information and resources for the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA)
PREA / Offender Sexual Abuse
:: HOME > What We Are Doing > The purpose of this web page is to support the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA, P.L. 108-79) that was enacted by Congress to address the problem of sexual abuse of persons in the custody of U.S. correctional agencies.

Major provisions of PREA include:
  • 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.

On June 23, 2009, the PREA Commission released their final report and proposed standards to prevent, detect, respond to and monitor sexual abuse of incarcerated and detained individuals. These proposed standards have been submitted to the President, Congress, and other Federal and state officials. Within one year, the U.S. Attorney General will promulgate national standards on this issue. Links to the Commission report and executive summary, and to the proposed standards are provided in the "Related Web Sites" sidebar to the right.


:: USA.gov > U.S. Dept. of Justice > Bureau of Prisons > National Institute of Corrections > .:: Privacy & Disclaimers :: Accessibility ::.
Click to CloseClick to Begin Survey