The 49 page report [PDF] presents findings from the first National Survey of Youth in Custody (NSYC), representing 26,550 adjudicated youth (91% male; 9% female) held nationwide in state-operated and large locally/privately operated juvenile facilities. A point of reference is provided by the 276 page report [PDF] by the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission under the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003, which notes that over "7.3 million Americans" are "confined in correctional facilities or supervised in the community, at a cost of more than $68 billion annually". 4.5% of adult prisoners surveyed reported experiencing sexual abuse one or more times during the 12 months preceding the survey. It comments that -
Investigators were shocked by the age and size disparity between many of the youth involved. Youth as old as 18 were assaulting or coercing children as young as 12; children weighing as little as 70 pounds were sexually abused by youth outweighing them by 100 pounds.Over 20% of inmates in juvenile detention were there for offenses such as violating probation, truancy, missing curfews or running away rather than violence. "Many suffer from mental illness, substance abuse, and learning disabilities."
Overall, the Beck et al study indicates that around 12% of youth in state juvenile facilities and large non-state facilities (representing 3,220 youth nationwide) reported experiencing one or more incidents of sexual victimization by another youth or facility staff in the past 12 months or since admission. About 2.6% reported an incident involving another youth; 10.3% reported an incident involving staff.
9.1% of females and 2.0% of males reported unwanted sexual activity with other youth. Youth with a sexual orientation other than heterosexual reported significantly higher rates of sexual victimization by another youth (12.5%) compared to heterosexual youth (1.3%). Among youth victimized by another youth, 20% said they had been physically injured; 5% reported they had sought medical attention for their injuries.
Youth who had experienced any prior sexual assault were more than twice as likely to report sexual victimization in the current facility (24.1%), compared to those with no sexual assault history (10.1%).
About 4.3% of youth (1,150) reported having sex or other sexual contact with facility staff as a result of some type of force; 6.4% of youth (1,710) reported sexual contact with facility staff without any force, threat, or other explicit form of coercion. Approximately 95% of all youth reporting staff sexual misconduct
said they had been victimized by female staff. (In 2008, 42% of staff in state juvenile facilities were female.)
Kaiser & Stannow note that -
The survey, however, was only given at large facilities that held youth that have been tried for some offense for at least ninety days. That’s more restrictive than it may sound. In total, according to the most recent data, there are nearly 93,000 kids in juvenile detention on any given day. Although we can’t assume that 12.1 percent of the larger number were sexually abused—many kids not covered by the survey are held for short periods of time, or in small facilities where rates of abuse are somewhat lower—we can say confidently that the BJS’s 3,320 figure represents only a small fraction of the juveniles sexually abused in detention every year.They subsequently comment that -
In essence, the survey shows that thousands of children are raped and molested every year while in the government’s care — most often, by the very corrections officials charged with their rehabilitation and protection
