The U.S. Department of Justice recently released a report examining the pervasive culture of sexual abuse and assault at New Jersey’s only women’s prison, The New York Times reports.

The DOJ report described horrific conditions in the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women, including instances in which inmates were forced to engage in sex acts with guards or other inmates while other guards watched. At least one woman was forced to serve as the lookout for the guard who was assaulting her.

The DOJ said that it could sue the New Jersey Department of Corrections if the problems and abusive culture outlined in the report weren’t sufficiently addressed. Edna Mahan is the most recent women’s prison to come under scrutiny by the DOJ, but it’s not the first. Several prisons across the country have been found to violate inmates’ constitutional protections from cruel and unusual punishment due to the high level of sexual abuse occurring at the facilities.

“As the Supreme Court has held, sexual abuse is not part of any person’s punishment,” the DOJ report reads. “Our society requires prisoners to give up their liberty, but that surrender does not encompass the basic right to be free from severe unwanted sexual contact.”

Investigation of Edna Mahan Women’s Prison

Scrutiny into the conditions at Edna Mahan began in mid-2018 when New Jersey Advance Media published a story detailing the rampant culture of sexual violence at the prison. However, even after officers and guards at the women’s prison learned of the DOJ investigation, the sexual abuse and coercion continued. In fact, the Times reports that during the federal investigation, a civilian employee and seven corrections officers, including some senior officers, were “indicted, convicted or pleaded guilty to sexual abuse charges.”  The Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office continues to pursue sexual assault cases that have taken place at Edna Mahan, according to the Times. 

The DOJ outlined the appalling conditions at the women’s prison. At least 16 inmates reported being beaten or sexually abused by a single officer between 2008 and 2010. In 2010 and 2011, three other officers were fired following sexual abuse accusations by inmates. In one case, the report describes guards holding“viewing parties” of a mentally ill inmate on suicide watch, who the guards coerced to dance naked for them.

The American Civil Liberties Union reports that a large portion of women in prison have been abused previously, making the callous treatment by facility guards even crueler. The inherent imbalance of power between inmates and guards makes the women particularly vulnerable to abuse.

The DOJ report states that the prisoners “kept quiet, living in fear of retaliation, violence or loss of privileges.”

Edna Mahan’s Efforts to Improve Conditions

Matthew Schuman, a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Corrections, told the Times that a task force had been formed to carry out the DOJ’s recommendations for the women’s prison. The DOJ report included 19 remedial measures to combat the facility’s systemic culture of sexual assault and harassment.

The women’s prison intends to increase camera surveillance, implement an early warning system for problematic behaviors, and establish gender restrictions for certain positions. The state’s Department of Corrections has also re-established an inmate advocacy board made up of women and officers at the facility who will be required to undergo more training in gender issues.

“The Department of Corrections remains committed to ensuring the safety of all those in its care, and in service of that goal continues to regularly monitor and evaluate its operations, programs and services,” the New Jersey Department of Corrections said in an emailed statement, the Associated Press reports.

However, it’s not clear what the women’s prison is doing to make reporting easier for inmates, something that has consistently been a problem at the facility. In 2018, the prison previously instituted a hotline for inmates to report sexual abuse, but the DOJ found that the number wasn’t posted in common areas or housing units. Officers and employees referred to the hotline as the “snitch line,” including in the prison’s caller ID system. 

“It is both problematic and emblematic of the problems with the reporting systems at Edna Mahan,” the DOJ report states.

The DOJ wants the women’s prison to implement a way for inmates to confidentially report abuse as well as inform inmates of their right to do so. The report also calls for the facility to stop the practice of transferring inmates who report sexual abuse to segregated housing.

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.