Cross-gender pat searches
The new policy introduced this year allows male guards to conduct unsupervised searches of female prisoners which involve touching the breast and crotch areas -- a procedure that was banned in VSPW in 1998 after years of complaints by prisoners of groping and other sexual abuse by male guards.
Research has shown that pat down searches and other intimate contact involving male guards can be particularly traumatizing for women prisoners, many of whom have histories of being physically or sexually abused before their incarceration.
In California, as in many other US states, female prisoners are routinely supervised by male guards, a practice which is contrary to international standards...
�Amnesty International 10.31.03
The new policy introduced this year allows male guards to conduct unsupervised searches of female prisoners which involve touching the breast and crotch areas -- a procedure that was banned in VSPW in 1998 after years of complaints by prisoners of groping and other sexual abuse by male guards.
Research has shown that pat down searches and other intimate contact involving male guards can be particularly traumatizing for women prisoners, many of whom have histories of being physically or sexually abused before their incarceration.
In California, as in many other US states, female prisoners are routinely supervised by male guards, a practice which is contrary to international standards...
�Amnesty International 10.31.03
