New measures are being implemented in the US to tackle rape and sexual assault in prison. But in Alabama, one women's prison has gained a notorious reputation for being unsafe.
Tutwiler prison stands next to US Highway 231, in the town of Wetumpka. Behind the barbed wire is a series of stone-coloured single-storey buildings.
This is Alabama's maximum security facility for women - a place where stories of rape and sexual assault are legion.
On a Sunday morning, Robert Chancey joins a queue of relatives waiting to visit the inmates. He has come to see Monica Washington, his cousin. Toddling along beside Robert, is Monica's little girl - growing tall and strong while her mother serves 20 years for robbery.
The guard told her when he took her in the room what he wanted to do to her”
Robert Chancey Cousin of Monica Washington
Away from the prison, Robert explains how Monica got pregnant. "She was raped in prison. She had the baby by one of the guards."
Robert learned about the attack during a prison visit when Monica was already two months pregnant.
"The guard told her when he took her in the room what he wanted to do to her and she said 'No'. He told her: 'Who do you think they're going to believe - you or me?' So she proceeded just to do what he wanted her to do."
Robert says his cousin was too frightened to report the rape, but prison gossip meant she could not hide the pregnancy - or how it happened - for long.
A Montgomery-based NGO, Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), investigated events at Tutwiler. Charlotte Morrison - an EJI lawyer representing Washington - says there are other cases involving the prison's staff.
"We know of numerous pregnancies, including three since 2009. We interviewed over 50 women at Tutwiler - what we found was really disturbing.
"Every single woman we interviewed had been either sexually assaulted, sexually harassed or had witnessed another female inmate being sexually harassed or sexually assaulted."
But this is not about one institution in one southern state. The United States is the most incarcerated nation on earth - more than two million inmates are behind bars in federal and state prisons, and local jails.
A recent survey by the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics estimated 9.6% of former inmates at state prisons across the US reported one or more incidents of sexual victimisation during their most recent period of incarceration. About 5.4% of former state prisoners reported an incident involving another inmate, and 5.3% reported an incident involving staff. The US Congress has taken action, and the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) came into force last August. It sets out how prisons and jails should investigate and respond to complaints, how inmates should be able to report abuse, and recommends prisoners be guarded by same-sex staff where possible.
The Alabama Department of Corrections says it is working towards compliance with the PREA standards, but would not allow the BBC to visit any of its facilities.
At Florida's Turner Guilford Knight correctional facility, one of five jails run by the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department, many of the PREA recommendations are being implemented. Staff are trained by Just Detention International (JDI) - an American NGO which has campaigned on prison rape for decades.
On arrival at a Miami-Dade jail, prisoners are advised on how they can keep safe and they have access to a 24-hour hotline. Calls go through to a local rape treatment centre and to Mujer, an NGO where the phone is answered by Ana Obregon.
"In October I had about 18 calls," she says. "The majority are from individuals or by friends of individuals who are identifying as gay - all of them have been men. There's a lot of unwanted touching going on. I have had two who have reported rape."
Campaigners believe that being able to report an assault to an outside organisation - like Mujer - is critical. But the prison context is complex, and the reporting system is open to abuse.
"Since the beginning of this year we have yet to experience an alleged assault we've been able to substantiate," says Marydell Guevara, assistant director of Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department.
"Prisoners may gamble with chips and candy bars. Let's say I was on the losing end, and I owe you five candy bars. Well, I'm going to get on the rape hotline and say: 'My cellmate Jo has sexually assaulted me.'
"They know what our protocol is - we come in, do a full investigation and in the interim, we separate them. So sometimes prisoners use it as a tactic to get someone moved out of their cell."
But this does not invalidate the system, she says. "I'd rather have 100 false reports than have one real one that we miss."
Culled from BBC
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