Violence and Silence: The Prison Rape Elimination Act and Beyond

Authors

Elizabeth Eggert, Macalester CollegeFollow

Abstract

Connecting the #MeToo movement to sexual abuse in prisons, this paper analyzes the flaws of the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003. Examining the genesis behind PREA, the lack of enforcement and accountability, and the remaining unresolved issues, I argue that the law fails to meaningfully combat the pervasive and multifaceted problem of sexual abuse in US prisons. The racist, sexist, and homophobic ideologies that gave rise to PREA, as well as its focus on prison efficiency rather than prisoners’ lives, only serve to further entrench harmful biases within United States prisons and broader society.

Author Biography

Elizabeth Eggert ‘18 is a graduating senior at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She double majors in English Literature and American Studies with a focus on contemporary war literature, the militarization of United States society, and criminal justice reform.

Recommended Citation

Eggert, Elizabeth (2018) "Violence and Silence: The Prison Rape Elimination Act and Beyond," Tapestries: Interwoven voices of local and global identities: Vol. 7: Iss. 1, Article 6.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/tapestries/vol7/iss1/6

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.