Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA), Congressman Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), and Congressman Hank Johnson (D-GA) introduced legislation on Thursday aimed at restoring dignity to incarcerated individuals who have experienced sexual abuse. The Sexual Abuse Services in Detention Act (SASIDA, H.R. 9835) seeks to significantly expand emotional support services for survivors within detention facilities. This bipartisan bill would provide funding and training to community rape crisis centers, allowing them to work directly with incarcerated survivors who have long suffered in silence, a media release from Just Detention International — a human rights organization that seeks to end sexual abuse in all forms of detention — announced.
“SASIDA will help remedy the devastating lack of emotional support services for people in detention who have been sexually abused,” said Linda McFarlane, Executive Director of Just Detention International. “With the introduction of SASIDA and the leadership of its sponsors, Representatives Sydney Kalmager-Dove, Kelly Armstrong, and Hank Johnson, we have a prime opportunity to ensure that survivors of sexual abuse get the help they deserve.”
The legislation proposes creating a federal grant program to support local rape crisis centers’ work within detention facilities, providing services such as telephone hotlines—resources commonly available in the broader community but rarely accessible behind bars. SASIDA would also fund training for corrections staff on best practices for offering supportive care to those in custody. Additionally, the bill would establish a national resource center to assist both corrections professionals and rape crisis centers in providing emotional support services to incarcerated survivors.
SASIDA (S. 1422) was introduced in the Senate earlier this year by Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Brian Schatz (D-HI).
“Nationwide, there is a robust network of rape crisis centers providing lifesaving care to their communities. But most centers do not have the resources or training to serve the incarcerated people who are part of those same communities,” said McFarlane. “With SASIDA in place, rape crisis centers finally will be able reach survivors behind bars, working hand-in-hand with corrections staff to bring healing to those who need it.”
More than 50 organizations, including Just Detention International, the ACLU, FAMM, National Commission on Correctional Health Care, Right on Crime, and the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, have endorsed SASIDA. A coalition of these organizations has also sent a letter to Congressional leaders urging swift passage of the bill.
The introduction of SASIDA comes amid heightened attention to the pervasive issue of sexual abuse in detention facilities. High-profile cases, such as those at the federal prison in Dublin, California (FCI Dublin), highlight the urgent need for stronger protections for incarcerated people and improved access to confidential rape crisis services.
On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and Counterterrorism held its first hearing on sexual abuse in prisons and youth detention centers since the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was enacted in 2003. Chaired by Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), the hearing included testimony from Just Detention International’s National Advocacy Director Julie Abbate and other experts, who emphasized the need for passing SASIDA to fulfill PREA’s mission of ending sexual abuse behind bars.
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