That's debating society stuff, though, not an actual reform proposal, and highly conjectural. Plenty of people make prison rape jokes already; I don't see them

That's debating society stuff, though, not an actual reform proposal, and highly conjectural. Plenty of people make prison rape jokes already; I don't see them having a problem with flogging, either. Especially since it would likely happen behind closed doors. To not hide it, people would have to see it, and the current prison system is brutal enough so that showing it would be enough of a shock; the problem is that it's not being seen enough, and I don't see how that would be any different with flogging.