This is not your typical rape story. You can get that in newspapers, magazines,
television, and at the movies. But this is true.
"The fight against rape in our communities is doomed to failure
and will remain an exercise in futility as long as it ignores the network of
training grounds for rapists: our prisons, jails and reform schools."
--Stephen Donaldson
We read a lot about "date rape" these days. And a fair bit about all kinds of rape... so we think. But did you know that far more men are raped --every day-- than women? And that when a man is raped for the first time, it's usually a violent, bloody gang rape? That after a man is raped, he is forced into sexual slavery, attending to every whim and desire of the man or men who raped him, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, for years and years?
You probably didn't know this, because it happens in prison. Every day. And prison life isn't quite what you've seen in the movies. If the man complains, or tries to get help, his punishments are doubled. Sometimes, after years of sexual torture, he is killed. Even if he survives, he has almost invariably contracted AIDS, so he will die a horrible death anyway.
If you are young (under 40 or 45), or white, even marginally attractive, or built less strongly than your average powerlifter, you're a prime target your first day in prison. If you possess any combination of these characteristics, it's a sure bet that your stay in captivity will be one of complete and total slavery. In addition to the humiliations and degredations your masters will force upon you, you will be prostituted around the prison for their profit. (It's one way that the predators have to gain enough money to secure the services of a lawyer in order to get themselves out of prison.) Meanwhile, to save your life you may be forced into infractions which prolong your own stay behind bars.
Think about this the next time you hear a politician calling for life sentences for young men convicted of selling drugs. The popular notion of prison is a place full of tough, hardened inmates who have a total disregard for life. However, a large proportion of prisoners are youthful, non-violent offenders, usually misguided souls who have had poor luck in life's lottery: poor parents, poor home lives, poor schooling, and poor opportunities.
The United States is a pioneer in the barbaric and medieval practice of incarcerating non-violent offenders along with murderers, mutilators, and other violent criminals. The prison society is so corrupt in this country that, as a young, non-violent offender, you are actually more likely to be put in with an extremely violent cellmate, who has paid off the prison guards to arrange it for his own pleasure.
If you think you're sturdy enough, listen to some stories in the prisoners' own words. But be warned, the stories are accurate and graphic. They are no place for the faint of heart and they are certainly no place for children.
See the story of a young Navy man. His story is ample demonstration that humiliation is just as important as sexual gratification in prison --these guys found the addresses of the Navy man's girlfriends and wrote them telling them what they were doing to him.
Want a taste? Consider an ex-con who tries to stay "coked up" all the time. He likes cocaine best because it reduces his need for sleep. He doesn't like sleep. "Sleep, for me, has nothing to do with rest. Sleep opens the gate to a freakish nightmare, a dream so intense, so vivid and real, I'm abruptly awakened with severe rectal pain and the gagging taste of semen, mixed with blood and feces, in my mouth and throat." See prison letters.
Most people would rather not know what's going on behind bars. A group called "Stop Prisoner Rape" attempts to publicize this issue, because its victims are unable to speak. When and if they get out, most are too traumatized and humiliated to recount their stories. SPR has a 10-point plan to lessen the brutality in our prisons. A pamphlet called "Protective Pairing" was written to help prepare young convicts, but right-wing taboos about the discussion of prison rape (an act which they consider "homosexual") have prevented its wide dissemination.
Incidentally, when the writer says someone has "a lot of time", he means a long sentence, and that someone is "short" refers likewise to a short sentence, not physical stature. When inmates talk of being raped before getting to prison, they mean that they were raped in jails before actually serving their official sentence in a penitentiary.
If you have any extra money, send it to SPR. They need it. And a million prisoners could use some help too.