(New York) -- Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) today applauded lawmakers in Vermont for passing legislation that protects women in prison from custodial sexual misconduct (CSM) -- the sexual abuse of inmates at the hands of corrections staff. Vermont was the last of the 50 states to pass a law directly addressing such abuse, though many of those states' laws are severely inadequate.

"This is a significant victory, one that proves that lawmakers in Vermont understand that no woman deserves sexual abuse or unwanted sexual advances, regardless of whether she is serving time," said Larry Cox, Executive Director of AIUSA. "The state legislature and Governor Douglas deserve praise for taking this step to ensure women are protected."

When Amnesty International began analyzing custodial sexual misconduct laws in 1999, 14 states had no laws protecting women inmates from sexual abuse. By 2001, six states -- Alabama, Minnesota, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Wisconsin -- still lacked such laws. Governor Douglas signed Vermont's custodial sexual misconduct legislation on May 23.

Amnesty International has campaigned on this issue in Vermont over several years, meeting with officials from the Vermont Department of Corrections, raising public awareness and sending appeals to lawmakers.

Vermont's law achieves four out of the six benchmarks that AIUSA uses to analyze the effectiveness of laws preventing CSM:

• Laws should cover all forms of sexual contact between inmates and correctional staff.
  
• Statutes should not consider the consent of an inmate to sexual acts as a legal defense for corrections staff accused of misconduct. Amnesty International believes that sexual relations between staff and inmates are inherently abusive because as agents of the state, the staff are abusing the considerable power of their role.
  
• Inmates should not be held criminally liable for sexual contact because of unequal power relations and because of the threat of legal retaliation against inmates could make them fear reporting abuse.
  
• Laws should provide for the ability to prosecute CSM as a felony to ensure that, when appropriate, the level of the penalty is proportionate to the nature of the harm.

Vermont's law does not cover all locations where an inmate could be sexually abused -- specifically, it does not cover detainees while they are held in police lock-ups or holding cells.

Vermont's law also fails to cover all corrections staff that may interact with detainees. A woman in a community service program, on parole or probation is only protected by the law if she is directly supervised by the perpetrator. This is a loophole that may lead to impunity for those abusing positions of power to pressure women into sexual activity. Even if there is not a direct supervisory link, a woman may feel pressure to comply with sexual advances because of the assumption that a staff person has more power over her than he or she actually does, or could impact her record in other ways. This could be a problem especially in community service programs, where inmates may be working alongside regular staff.

The law further requires that a woman must prove that the official knew she was in custody or a correctional program when the sexual act took place (particularly an issue for those who are on parole or doing community service). This presents an additional hurdle for an inmate to clear during a prosecution, and another loophole that could be exploited to escape accountability.

"This law should still be improved, but it is a tremendous step in the right direction," said Joshua Rubenstein, Northeast Regional Director of AIUSA. "We look forward to seeing the protections this law ensures and working with the Vermont legislature to further secure the rights of inmates in the future."

Now that all 50 states have anti-CSM legislation, AIUSA will focus its efforts toward improving those laws that fail to meet all six of the organization's benchmarks and stopping the dangerous practice of shackling women inmates during pregnancy, labor and delivery.

In March, Amnesty International released Abuse of Women in Custody: sexual misconduct and shackling of pregnant women, a report that examines laws, policies and practices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons regarding custodial sexual misconduct (CSM) and shackling of pregnant inmates.

Amnesty International is a grassroots movement with more than 1.8 million members across the world that promotes and defends all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

For more information please see: www.amnestyusa.org

Contact: Ben Somberg at 212/633-4268 or Joshua Rubenstein at 617/623-0202

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