Sexual abuse of women in United States prisons: a modern corollary of slavery 1 (original) (raw)

I. INTRODUCTION I initially began working on this paper in connection with a project that looked at the transatlantic abolition movement in the United States and Europe from 1830 to 1870 with a focus on early feminist efforts. 1 In that initial effort, it became clear that sexual abuse of women in prison and the sexual abuse of female slaves shared many similarities. This paper addresses the sexual abuse of women in custody as a more contemporary manifestation of slavery. Part II situates the sexual abuse of women in custody in the historical context of the creation of the first penitentiaries in the United States. Part II also briefly charts the "Reform Movement" in prisons, which was led by Quaker women who were also involved in the abolition movement and later the suffrage movement. 2 * Brenda V. Smith is a Professor at the Washington College of Law. I would like to thank my colleagues for their helpful suggestions and feedback on this paper. The manuscript of Prof. Pamela Bridgewater and her thoughtful comments were particularly helpful. I would also like to thank my research assistants, Loren Ponds, Sundeep Patel, and Nairi Simonian, who provided key research assistance.