tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623255227619374869.post4822123080663519790..comments2024-02-25T10:17:33.419+00:00Comments on Prison UK: An Insider's View: Prison Rape: Why Andrew Selous is WrongPrisonUKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05060870139110580938noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623255227619374869.post-79632923055760204262014-09-16T12:07:57.614+01:002014-09-16T12:07:57.614+01:00Thanks for your comments. I've also seen some ...Thanks for your comments. I've also seen some mobile phone footage online of the incident in the YOI which involved lads punching each other in return for drugs to smoke. I'm still not sure whether this is a widespread craze or just a nasty localised case in one establishment.<br /><br />I have posted on this blog previously about whether prison violence is going up or down and I'm not sure that the available statistics really indicate that violent incidents are rising significantly, although there has been a recent year-on-year rise of serious assaults on prison staff (although this is still not as high as it was a few years ago). I'm not aware of any serious attacks on governors recently - I think it tends to be frontline wing screws who get the brunt of it.<br /><br />There are prison procedures - including putting a con on 'bully watch' or even busting him to 'bully Basic' (effectively solitary confinement with no privileges) under the Violence Reduction strategy. However, there are also issues with putting known bullies on Vulnerable Prisoner Units (VPUs) because they are then accommodated with the most vulnerable cons and can continue bullying and extortion.<br /><br />Something that I have noticed, particularly in B-cat locals, is that some wing officers tend to allow dominant cons to act as wing 'daddies' in return for a quiet life. I've known cases where bullies are given positions of responsibility where they can keep the wing under their thumb - for example, wing rep or Insider positions. <br /><br />The worst case I encountered was the most notorious tobacco baron and loan shark in one B-cat being allowed to become the Samaritan's trained Listener coordinator, so desperate cons who needed to talk to someone about their problems found him at the cell door. He also got a wing rep post and eventually got the job of education rep as well. <br /><br />The screws must have known what he was up to because every canteen day there was a long queue of cons outside his cell handing over their burn (rolling tobacco), chocolate bars and tins of tuna to settle their debts. His cell was right opposite the table the wing staff used to sit at, so it was absolutely blatant. I once counted 15 lads waiting to pay up. He even recruited a couple of heavies to ensure that cons who owed him never missed an interest payment.PrisonUKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05060870139110580938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623255227619374869.post-13107995113193010882014-09-16T11:47:52.098+01:002014-09-16T11:47:52.098+01:00Thanks for your comments, John. Amid all the scand...Thanks for your comments, John. Amid all the scandals concerning the crisis in the UK prison system, I really think that Chris Grayling's attempts to cover up rape and sexual abuse of inmates is the most despicable. It seems that - like many members of the 'hang 'em and flog 'em' brigade - he is implying that the risk of being sexually violated in prison is part and parcel of the punishment being meted out.<br /><br />I recently encountered a similar attitude on The Guardian's online comments section where someone expressed the hope that Denis MacShane had been "passed round gangs" when he was in prison. While that sort of disgusting 'pro-rape' sentiment is allowed to go unchallenged in our society, Team Grayling will attempt to capitalise on it in order to increase the effectiveness of their 'big stick' approach to criminal justice. In essence, it could be put as bluntly as "break the law, get sent to jail, get raped". PrisonUKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05060870139110580938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623255227619374869.post-85215401809637060012014-09-16T11:40:33.077+01:002014-09-16T11:40:33.077+01:00Ive read about sexual and non sexual assaults with...Ive read about sexual and non sexual assaults within the broadsheets and red tops recently. There is a craze within Southern YOIs where bullying is filmed on mobile phones and posted online. Violent cons are attacking prison officers or governors over trivial matters and sexual assault is widespread across the country. In my opinion, prison bullies are on a par with paedophiles/predators and should be isolated from the prison population.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623255227619374869.post-24276162177727352912014-09-16T06:05:42.565+01:002014-09-16T06:05:42.565+01:00Grayling is in denial.........has he some personal...Grayling is in denial.........has he some personal reasons for hating prisoners...or is he just a hater.........Throughout the 21 years that i spent within prisons and borstals......i knew of so many assaults upon weaker prisoners........it's an utter disgrace that Grayling wont allow prisoners to speak to the Howard Trust and or other concerned people....he doesn't know the meaning of Justice....Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18323115531418567911noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623255227619374869.post-58671862123004887052014-09-16T00:17:48.009+01:002014-09-16T00:17:48.009+01:00Thanks for your comment. Obviously, because I only...Thanks for your comment. Obviously, because I only have personal experience of prisons for males, I haven't been able to say anything about women's prisons. <br /><br />It's an important issue, not least because female inmates are sometimes harassed sexually by staff (usually male, but not always) who then get prosecuted for misconduct in public office or sexual offences and sometimes jailed themselves. Whether there is the same culture of silence in female establishments, I can't judge, but I think any independent investigation should cover all types of establishment.PrisonUKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05060870139110580938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623255227619374869.post-19919314019803155622014-09-15T23:44:37.721+01:002014-09-15T23:44:37.721+01:00I cannot help but feel the response would be diffe...I cannot help but feel the response would be different if we were talking exclusivley about females being sexually assaulted!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8623255227619374869.post-59650792532235899492014-09-15T15:37:39.832+01:002014-09-15T15:37:39.832+01:00http://prisonuk.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/sexual-assa...http://prisonuk.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/sexual-assaults-in-prison.html?m=1Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com