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Marc Martinez's avatar

I found Trump's 'joke' distasteful for many reasons. But I think that Ms Stoker Bruenig overstates the level of public acceptance. I think one of the reasons that people think the male prisoner rape story is humorous is because they do not believe that it is common. And it isn't. In 2015 there were 1.5 million prisoners in local, state and federal prisons and 2.3 million people that were detained for some length of time in these facilities. The reported rapes were under 4% and Stoker Breunig's 200,000 'sexually violated' number is 8.6% of the population. The most recent reports shows a significant improvement.

https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/sexual-victimization-reported-adult-correctional-authorities-2016-2018

I think that the vast majority of people assume and expect that prisons are well controlled and managed, which is why there is a scandal when it is discovered that they are not. Similarly, getting murdered in prison, or the threat, is a common plot point in TV and movies but only happens to 0.004% of the incarcerated population.

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