The National Prison Rape Elimination Commission (NPREC) released its final Report and Standards on June 23rd at the National Press Club, opening a new chapter of progress toward realizing safer conditions of confinement around the country.  The same event closed a chapter for many of us here in Vera’s Washington DC Office. 

Vera’s DC office launched in the fall of 2006, and our first project was a contract with NPREC to help them develop national standards for the prevention, detection, and response to sexual abuse in all confinement settings—standards that were mandated by the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) of 2003. Although we knew this was important work and an incredible opportunity to help prisons and jails keep prisoners safe from abuse, we had no idea how consuming and ultimately rewarding the work would be.

I often visit jails and prisons around the country and I’m struck that the impact of PREA has already been tremendous. There may be some resistance to the standards, but many in corrections already have embraced the change on the horizon. They  have demonstrated their eagerness by developing policies and strategies for combating sexual abuse in their facilities long before the NPREC standards require them to. After three years working with NPREC—in the end, on both the entire body of standards and the Commission’s final report—everyone in this office has developed a strong commitment to seeing NPREC succeed in its mission to eliminate prison rape. We now feel part of a major movement forward and are anxious to see this next chapter unfold.