- 03
- September
2010
This post continues and concludes the financial argument for protecting U.S. inmates and corrections workers from sex abuse in jails and prisons. If the ethical reason that prisoners are people too and deserve to feel safe in government facilities isn't enough, then human rights advocates hope that financial reasons will help affect change within the system:
Isolation Cost
When a prisoner is raped or injured during an incident of sexual abuse, he or she is then often sent to an isolated cell, where they will be safe from other inmates. According to research, keeping prisoners in isolation is not only hard on their mental health, but it is expensive. In California, keeping an inmate in an isolated cell costs more than $14,000 a year.
Security Cost
Sources claim that facilities with lower incidents of sexual assault are safer overall for both prisoners and corrections employees and have lower rates of violent crime. A safer jail or prison means that less money has to be spent on security and the consequences that come with security breaches.
