Women incarcerated in California were systematically failed by the prison system and were not adequately protected from sexual abuse and harassment by guards, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Thursday.
The federal investigation, which began during the Biden administration, found that California’s corrections department also failed to give victims a safe way to report sexual abuse and harassment without retaliation. Staff who were tasked with investigating the misconduct were oftentimes also accused of sexual abuse or harassment.
