Prison Rapes and Violence: A Comparative Analysis between USA and India

Rights are very crucial for every mankind be it an accused or the aggrieved person in a particular offence as prisoners are also humans and they deserve to be treated like humans. Just because a person is criminal, it is not justifiable to punish or harass for his/her wrongdoings as it is upon the judicial system of a particular country to decide what punishment an accused deserves or not. Custodial rape and sexual violence upon the prisoner is one of the most ignored offence to be reported or to be discussed about as people are not sympathetic towards prisoners and think that it is better to subject the criminal to the same heinous act, which he/she has committed against the victim and the society. Rape is considered one of heinous offences but only women come under the term ‘victim’ when it comes to sexual offences or rape laws. Prison violence is not any gender specific issue and it drastically drags the prisoners into trauma and insecurity, which stays with the prisoner and later carries to the society when released. The authors would be shedding light upon the laws against custodial rape and sexual violence in India and USA and comparing the rights of prisoners. And discussing the loopholes in laws against prison violence with the help of various case laws and later elaborating about the reforms needed in laws in that particular country. Research methodology would be doctrinal and authors would be referring to various secondary sources like books, magazines, journals, case studies, exiting legislations, etc. of India and USA. The research question: 1. Are there any existing laws to tackle and elimination of the crime of custodial rape and sexual violence in India and USA? If yes, are they enough to protect rights of the prisoners? 2. Are the laws gender specific in India or USA? Is there any need for reforms? 3. What is the impact of prison rape and violence on prisoners?