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There's some small bit of gray area here, but I think most of those situations should still qualify as rape. Prison guards have immense power over inmates. The

by scarmig 13y ago

There's some small bit of gray area here, but I think most of those situations should still qualify as rape. Prison guards have immense power over inmates. Their decisions can give a prisoner a plush gig or a terrible one; can allow for the prisoner to receive medical care or not; can result in a prisoner being punished severely for an infraction or escape with just a slap on the wrist or even nothing at all. The discretion of prison guards can even determine whether a prisoner will have the opportunity to be raped by another prisoner or not, or determine whether the prisoner ends up the sexual property of a nice owner or a brutal one. In those circumstances, it's incredibly problematic to say that the prisoner had free choice in the matter: it's akin to asking a woman to have sex with you and at the same time off-handedly mentioning how unfortunate it'd be if she made you angry. It's a choice without a real choice. The idea that men cannot be raped while being the penetrator is one that has to go.

thaumasiotes 13y ago
Did you read the article I linked? It talks about a prisoner who impregnated four of his guards, who then bragged to each other about having his kids. How one of the guards went to the guy for moral support when she found the prison environment too disturbing to handle. How the prisoners passed around tips on seducing the guards. These were not guards with any power over the inmates.
ams6110 13y ago
Guards don't necessarily have the power you imagine. They are vastly outnumbered by the prisoners for one, and it's not uncommon for a guard to be intimidated into running drugs or other contraband for prison gangs. In many prisons housing violent offenders, its probably more accurate to say that the prisoners and the guards work in a tense sort of truce most of the time.
- scarmig 13y ago
  Power is situational: in one context someone might have power over the other, while in another a minute later the roles might switch. And yeah, people do form a sort of truce or understanding about how power is to be applied and when. But when it comes down to it, guards have the power to use legitimated state violence on pretty much any offender. Simply because that might be politically costly (with respect to prisoner-guard relations) doesn't change the fact that the power exists and is real.

by scarmig 13y ago

thaumasiotes 13y ago

Did you read the article I linked? It talks about a prisoner who impregnated four of his guards, who then bragged to each other about having his kids. How one of the guards went to the guy for moral support when she found the prison environment too disturbing to handle. How the prisoners passed around tips on seducing the guards. These were not guards with any power over the inmates.

ams6110 13y ago

Guards don't necessarily have the power you imagine. They are vastly outnumbered by the prisoners for one, and it's not uncommon for a guard to be intimidated into running drugs or other contraband for prison gangs. In many prisons housing violent offenders, its probably more accurate to say that the prisoners and the guards work in a tense sort of truce most of the time.

scarmig 13y ago
Power is situational: in one context someone might have power over the other, while in another a minute later the roles might switch. And yeah, people do form a sort of truce or understanding about how power is to be applied and when. But when it comes down to it, guards have the power to use legitimated state violence on pretty much any offender. Simply because that might be politically costly (with respect to prisoner-guard relations) doesn't change the fact that the power exists and is real.