The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA) passed congress with unanimous support. The purpose of the act was to “provide for the analysis of the incidence and effects of prison rape in Federal, State, and local institutions and to provide information, resources, recommendations and funding to protect individuals from prison rape.”

PREA mandated significant research from the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the National Institute of Justice, funding through the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the National Institute of Corrections supported major efforts in many state correctional, juvenile detention, community corrections and jail systems. The act also created the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission and charged it with developing draft standards for the elimination of prison rape. Those standards went into effect on August 20, 2012.

For the full law, click here.  (Adapted from the National PREA Resource Center)