Runaway Sexual Abuse at Women’s Prisons
The only thing that competes with the rampant violence in Alabama prisons is the shocking levels of sexual abuse. I modeled the abuse Rose endures at Phillips closely after a Department of Justice investigation into the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women in Alabama, which has a reputation as one of the worst women’s prisons in America.
This was the single-most sensitive part of the story based on beta reader feedback due to the sheer frequency of rape happening. Many beta and ARC readers could not believe an American prison would allow sex to become a currency for necessities, but that is precisely what is happening in Tutwiler and many women’s prisons today.
DOJ Report: Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women (January 2014)
Human Rights Watch: All Too Familiar — Sexual Abuse of Women in U.S. State Prisons
LA Times: Widespread Sexual Abuse at California Women’s Prisons
The Guardian: California Prison Sergeant Sexual Abuse
https://www.aclu.org/documents/words-prison-sexual-abuse-prison
https://www.gao.gov/blog/heinous-crimes-haunting-federal-prisons-rape-and-sexual-abuse
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2026/03/27/prison-sexual-misconduct-bryan-bop
https://www.congress.gov/119/meeting/house/118184/documents/HHRG-119-JU08-20250506-SD017-U17.pdf
