Abstract
This study aimed to explore the problem of inmate sexual victimization in a Greek male prison. A total of 400 individuals were approached in the largest Greek male prison and 50 individuals participated. The questionnaire examined sociodemographic, offence-related information, sexual victimization during incarceration, experiences of witnessing the sexual coercion of other inmates, and history of sexual victimization. Thirteen (26.0%) participants reported sexual victimization by an inmate, including either “only non-penetrative” or “only penetrative ones” or “both penetrative and non-penetrative” ones. The victimized participants also performed worse in child sexual victimization and self-esteem scores as compared with the non-victimized ones. Vulnerable groups identified in the current study could receive further attention in future studies and policy initiatives. Large-scale surveys could be designed to extend our knowledge on this neglected area of research.
Highlights
It is common for some inmates to trade goods for drugs or even to use sex in order to arrange their debts with other inmates when they lack resources
The low response rate among prisoners in pretrial detention needs to be taken into consideration when interpreting the study findings, as international literature identifies them as a high-risk group for sexual victimization in prisons and our findings probably underestimate their experiences
Our study indicates that victimized inmates prefer violent reactions as a means of retaliation and this in turn implies that sexual assaults may generate follow-up violent acts
Summary
It is common for some inmates to trade goods for drugs or even to use sex in order to arrange their debts with other inmates when they lack resources. Inmate-on-inmate rape is a serious human rights abuse and a major public health problem. A Human Rights Watch Report [1] identified the huge traumatic effect of male rape on victims’ psychology with an emphasis placed on the feelings of shame. It is common for inmates to take precautions against sexual assault that render their environment more dangerous, such as launching pre-emptive strikes or joining gangs for protection; some even get injured while defending themselves [2]. There is a public health concern due to the extent that sexual assault contributes to the transmission of HIV among the population of inmates because of unprotected sexual activity [3,4,5]
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