Sexual Coercion Reported by men and Women in Prison

An anonymous survey of 1800 prisoners in a midwestern state prison system revealed that 104 of 516 respondents had been pressured or forced at least once to have sexual contact against their will. The emotional impact of worst case incidents was extremely negative for most targeted inmates. Of the 101 male subjects, 36 reported thoughts of suicide & 57 reported depression. None of the 3 female subjects reported suicidal ideation; one suffered depression. (25 refs.)