Sexual Violence in Juvenile Facilities

August 22, 2008 |
Valor

The U.S. Department of Justice’s, Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) recently published a report entitled: “Sexual Violence Reported by Juvenile Correctional Authorities 2005-06.”
The data presented in the report is from the 2005 and 2006 Survey on Sexual Violence. The survey collects data on incidents of youth-on-youth and staff-on-youth sexual violence reported to juvenile correctional authorities.
The report is completed on an annual basis and is mandated by the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003.

Some statistical highlights include:

  • State, local and private juvenile correctional authorities reported an estimated 4,072 allegations of sexual violence involving youth held in juvenile facilities during 2005 and 2006;
  • An estimated 36 percent of the allegations of sexual violence in juvenile facilities were youth-on-youth nonconsensual sexual acts, such as rape and forcible sodomy;
  • 21 percent were youth-on-youth abusive sexual contacts, such as unwanted touching or grabbing with the intention to exploit sexually;
  • About 32 percent of all allegations of sexual violence reported in state juvenile systems and local or private juvenile facilities involved staff sexual misconduct;
  • Victims of substantiated incidents of youth-on-youth sexual violence were more likely to be male (73 percent) than victims of staff-on-youth violence (49 percent);
  • Females were more likely to be victims of staff sexual violence than victims of youth-on-youth sexual violence (51 percent versus 27 percent).

The report was written by BJS statisticians Allen J. Beck, Devon B. Adams, and Paul Guerino. Click here to download the full report.
For additional information about the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ statistical reports and programs, visit the BJS Web site at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs.