Rape suit highlights Rikers protection push
By Colby Hamilton and Gloria Pazmino
A federal class-action lawsuit filed against the city Tuesday claiming numerous Rikers Island jail guards were engaged in widespread sexual assault and rape against female inmates was unsurprising to advocates pushing to bring the city’s jails in line with a 2003 federal law that aims to curb rape in corrections facilities.
“It really doesn’t come as a surprise—the city for a long time has turned a blind eye to unacceptable rates of sexual victimization on Rikers Island,” Public Advocate Letitia James told Capital on Wednesday.
In April, James petitioned the city’s Board of Correction, which is responsible for oversight and the creation of protocols for the city’s jails, to create rules for Rikers that would bring the facility in-line with the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA).
Signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2003, PREA sought to eliminate sexual assault in correction facilities through a “zero tolerance” policy.
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2015/05/8568523/rape-suit-highlights-rikers-protection-push