Stop Prisoner Rape (SPR) is a human rights organization seeking to end sexual violence against men, women, and youth in all forms of detention. SPR has three goals for its work: to advocate for policies that ensure institutional accountability, to change society's attitudes toward prisoner rape, and to promote access to resources for survivors of sexual assault behind bars.

There are three unique attributes of SPR that have contributed to its success as an advocacy organization. First, as SPR's history makes clear, it is first and foremost an organization that seeks to bring the perspectives and experiences of survivors of prisoner rape to the forefront of the public debate. …Second, SPR continues to focus its mission exclusively on addressing sexual violence behind bars. While it may seem tempting to branch off into other issues, we have strategically chosen not to do so. …Third, several years ago, SPR made a strategic decision to use an international human rights framework in all its work. This decision emerged from its leadership's firm belief that international human rights instruments provide a uniquely powerful moral and legal standard for fighting prisoner rape. These universal standards also have the strength to endure the vicissitudes of national, state, and local politics, including efforts by government officials to weaken the protection of human rights. SPR remains determined to use human rights standards in creative ways to further its mission.

…In recent years, SPR has maintained the delicate balance of simultaneously acting as a watchdog and fierce critic of government entities, while also collaborating with the same government bodies on particular projects. By providing expertise and input, in part derived from survivors' experiences, to officials charged with addressing prisoner rape, we feel we are impacting the issue in ways that policy advocacy alone could not do.

Excerpted from a written statement submitted to the Commission