The ‘Dredge Report

I keep meaning to blog about things besides, say, the minor annoyances that plague my day-to-day existence.  For example, I finally got around to skim-reading the report released last week by the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission.  It is horrifically depressing and yet not at all surprising, and as others have noted, what’s striking about the Commission’s recommendations is how mind-bogglingly basic they are.  Things like: Do better background checks on prison guards.  Have clear-cut written zero-tolerance standards on sexual abuse in correctional facilities.  Things that should have been in place long ago.

Minimizing or eliminating sexual abuse in any “closed society,” whether it be a religious sect or a correctional system, is an immense legal and cultural challenge.  In the spirit of, “Wow, I can’t believe we still make jokes about this stuff,”  consider doing as I did and making a small donation to Just Detention International, which seems to be The Organization that is advocating for change on this issue.