By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

 The United States Department of Justice announced last week that it has opened an investigation into allegations that correctional officers sexually abused incarcerated women at two state-run prisons in California.

Authorities uncovered “significant justification” to open an investigation looking in the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla and the California Institution for Women in Chino, the DOJ clarified in a statement. Both facilities are run by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The state’s corrections department stated that it welcomed the investigation and does not tolerate sexual abuse in its prisons.

The formal inquiry was initiated by multiple private lawsuits over the past two years alleging that incarcerated women at the Chowchilla prison were raped or sexually abused, A DOJ news release stated. A lawsuit filed on behalf of 21 incarcerated women at the Chino facility alleged that from 2014 to 2020, corrections officers groped and raped the women, forced them to participate in various sexual acts and threatened them with violence.

Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division condemned violence against women arguing that all women have the right to be protected.

“No woman incarcerated in a jail or prison should be subjected to sexual abuse by prison staff who are constitutionally bound to protect them,” said Clarke.

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Staff at the correctional facilities were also accused of seeking sexual favors in return for contraband and other privileges. Some of the accused staff members include prison officials responsible for handling sexual abuse complaints at the facilities.

Jeff Macomber, secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation stated that the department is willing to participate in the independent investigation.

“Sexual assault is a heinous violation of fundamental human dignity that is not tolerated — under any circumstances — within California’s state prison system,” said Macomber.

Recently, the federal Bureau of Prisons announced that it will close a women’s prison in Northern California known as the “rape club” following an investigation by the Associated Press exposing sexual abuse by correctional officers.

The United States Senate reported that corrections staff have sexually abused incarcerated people with approximately two-thirds of the victims being women in federal prisons. Federal reports revealed that sexual abuse by corrections officers is a systemic problem in prisons nationwide.

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