LIST OF ACRONYMS
CHAPTER 5: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
5.2 CORRECTIONAL OFFICIAL’S UNDERSTANDING OF THE TERM ‘SEXUAL ASSAULT’
5.2.2 Methods used to lure victims to sexual victimisation and/or assault: The
“Unknown debt” of accepting gifts.
Participant were asked, “In your opinion, what do you think motivates an offender to commit sexual assault?”
Being a first-time offender is amongst the factors that place individuals at risk of sexual assault in a correctional centre. In this study, correctional officials were aware of the existence of male sexual assault at Westville Correctional Centre. Participants were knowledgeable of the fact
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that new admissions are vulnerable to sexual assault because experienced long-term offenders (perpetrators) provide them with gifts with the intention of having sex; but the new admission is not informed of this. If they do not comply, they are sexually assaulted. This therefore means in a correctional centre, offenders who accept favours from other offenders get themselves in an unknown debt that results in male sexual assault. This was discussed further in the comments below:
“Yes, there are big chances for male offenders to sexually assault. Let me make an example an offender is coming into prison when he gets to jail – he knows nothing about the jail right. So when he arrives number 1 his coming into people who are more advanced about the jail, the offenders his arriving into no longer know a woman therefore, they use him to their advantage when a person arrives in jail. They do things for him and give him gifts and they will use that person later because his new and knows nothing about the jail, so they would want to sleep with him that is when sexual assault begins. You find that a person knew nothing, he was just accepting gifts were else those gifts mean something at the end of the day, they use those gifts to create debt for accepting those gifts to the one that might be victimised and you pay for that debt sexually if you refuse that when now one will be sexually assaulted” (Participant, B02).
“Here the most common cases that have heard of are that when a person comes into the correctional centre, don’t know anything so what happens is that older offenders will take advantage of them in a way that they will pretend to be caring and be providing the person with things suchcigarettes or food not knowing that in return the person will want to sleep with you and when you refuse he will force himself on you” (Participant, D02).
“You see when you come into a correctional centre for the first time you are clueless you don’t know anything that goes on, you don’t know how the correctional centre operate so now what happens is that those offenders who have been here longer will befriend the new offenders and providing thing for him and the other offender the new one he will accept these things not knowing that he will now have to sleep with this guy because he owes him for all the things he has been given him. If you refuse to sleep with the person that when he will sexually assault you, we even have guys are now committing sexual assault because there were also done this thing to” (Participant, A01).
“The non- gang members because they know nothing about the jail, those who have been in and out of jail and know it inside out take advantage of them. So you know that when you get to a place you not familiar with you become cowed, you don’t know where to go either to go
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this side or that side. So now a person comes to you, pretending to help you, you find that you hungry and the person gives you food. You thinking that the person likes you and wants to be friends with you whereas in the end that person will ask you to pay back. You out of bath soap the person gives you, you out of toothpaste he says here brother you can use mine, you think the person he just kind not knowing that there will come a time when he will say payback time”
(Participant, D01).
It is evident from the above data that first time offender becomes victims of sexual assault unknowingly. The participants revealed that all-time convicted offenders will use gifts such as food and toothpaste to lure the newly convicted offender (potential victim) for later sexual assault. They use these gifts to pretend to look after the new admission and later demand payback. The above data attest that experienced convicted offenders take advantage of new offenders by using tricks which eventually result in sexual assault. In addition, participants revealed that being clueless about the correctional centres makes a new offender vulnerable to male sexual assault because he does not know how coveted offenders operate. In addition, participants reported that newly convicted offenders are usually unaware that by receiving gifts, they are indebted to a sexual favour, which results in sexual assault. One correctional official further mentioned that victims of sexual assault end up committing this sexual offence because there were too sexually assaulted.
Apart from being a new offender in a correctional centre, not having visitation also places one at risk of being sexually assaulted. People with no visitation cannot get access to luxuries such as cigarettes, food and toothpaste. Even though the correctional centre does provide the basic necessities (such as food, bath soap, toothpaste) for offenders, it is not enough. Offenders then get assistance from the wrong people who have an intention of having sex with them as a result of providing for them. Refusal to do so result in a person being sexually assaulted.
The following verbatim expresses the notion of lack of visitors as a contributing factor to sexual assault:
“Offenders that don’t get visited here are in a problem because they do not get basic things like soap, roll on and cigarette, so now you find that there is someone in the cell that will now provide these things for him and at the end he will want to sleep with him if he refuses that when now he will get sexually assaulted” (Participant, D02).
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This confirms findings of studies conducted by Cook & Lane (2017); Martynuik (2013);
Booyens (2008) and Alberst (2007) (Section 2.5). Eigenberg, (1989, 2000b) also report similar finding that offenders are in debt for accepting gifts or favours are vulnerable to male sexual assault (Section 2.3).