DOJ: 3 Texas prison units, Harris Jail have among highest sexual victimization rates

Three Texas prison units and one jail (the largest) ranked among correctional facilities where inmates are most likely to be sexually victimized by either other inmates or correctional staff, according to a new report by the US Department of Justice (pdf, see the chart on page 12). Reportedly 6.3% of Harris county Jail inmates are sexually victimized, according to DOJ's offender survey. The percentages were 6.8%, 7.8% and 8.4% at Stiles, Clements and the Montford psychiatric unit, respectively (with a 95% confidence rate, see the report for details and limitations on their methodology, etc.).

Another interesting aspect: Extrapolating from national data on Table 8, p. 18 (these are all survey-based estimates), the number of heterosexual victimizations perpetrated by staff more than doubled the number of times that inmates were victimized by other inmates in same-sex assaults, with an estimated 27,258 heterosexual incidents by staff compared to 13,603 same-sex inmate-on-inmate incidents. Heterosexual inmates are more likely to be victimized by staff. Gay inmates are more likely to be victimized by other inmates.