Sexual Abuse of Women in United States Prisons: A Modern Corollary of Slavery

34 Pages Posted: 3 Jun 2007 Last revised: 6 May 2008

See all articles by Brenda V. Smith

Brenda V. Smith

American University - Washington College of Law; American University - NIC/WCL Project on Addressing Prison Rape

Abstract

This paper addresses the sexual abuse of women in custody as a more contemporary manifestation of slavery and discusses the congruencies and the differences that exist between the sexual abuse of women in custody and slavery. The paper charts the history of the parallel abolition and prison reform movements and examines their divergent paths arguing that the women's movement abandonment of prison advocacy has harmed the women in prison movement. The article concludes that the embrace of human rights norms has assisted in providing new avenues for redressing the sexual abuse of women in custody.

JEL Classification: K14, K40, K42, K49, Z00

Suggested Citation

Smith, Brenda V., Sexual Abuse of Women in United States Prisons: A Modern Corollary of Slavery. Fordham Urban Law Journal, Vol. 33, 2006, American University, WCL Research Paper No. 2008-33, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=990079

Brenda V. Smith (Contact Author)

American University - Washington College of Law ( email )

4300 Nebraska Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016
United States

American University - NIC/WCL Project on Addressing Prison Rape ( email )

4801 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20011
United States

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