California Lawmakers Seek Greater Oversight of Sexual Assault at Women's Prisons

California lawmakers are pushing to create more oversight at women's prisons, which face thousands of sexual misconduct and assault complaints. In a story from the Sacramento Bee, A new budget proposal would add more than 20 positions to the office of the inspector general to oversee these complaints. These new positions would also monitor the investigatory process of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. 

However, the added positions would only realistically be able to investigate 350 of the estimated 2,400 staff sexual misconduct and assault claims that are investigated each year.

"Why in the world are we sitting here and not saying it's our responsibility to address 100% of those grievances and complaints?" Assemblyperson Mia Bonta (D18) asked State Inspector General Amarik Singh in hearing last year. "We spend $14.6 billion a year in CDCR. Our budget speaks our values," Bonta continued.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced in September it was launching an investigation into whether the California corrections department protects incarcerated women "from sexual abuse by correctional staff" at two prisons, the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla and the California Institution for Women in Chino. The DOJ noted that women have filed hundreds of private lawsuits in the past two years alleging officer sexual abuse of people incarcerated at the Central California Women’s Facility over the last decade, ranging from allegations of inappropriate groping during searches and genital rubbing to forcible rape.

In March 2024, the DOJ said that a working group established by California, composed of advocacy groups and community-based organizations, published a report to the California Legislature that identified longstanding cultural deficiencies in addressing staff sexual abuse, including an unsafe and inaccessible reporting process and the absence of staff accountability.

While there isn't specific data available to measure how well CDCR investigates staff sexual assault/misconduct against incarcerated women, the Inspector General's office find the department is under-performing when it comes to investigating complaints. the IG's office monitored 162 investigated cases opened by CDCR Office of Internal Affairs in 2024. Of those, they found 99 were "poorly investigated," and 63 were "satisfactorily investigated."

Read more in "Lawmakers Push Reforms for Sexual Misconduct in California Prisons" in the Sacramento Bee.