Central California Women’s Facility

The U.S. Department of Justice determined that California’s two women’s prisons systematically failed to protect incarcerated individuals from sexual abuse and harassment by staff. The federal investigation into the California Institution for Women and Central California Women’s Facility identified a pattern and practice of constitutional rights violations, specifically citing failures to uphold Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment and Fourteenth Amendment rights to bodily privacy. Investigators further noted a longstanding pattern of staff sexual misconduct, inadequate safeguards, and insufficient accountability measures, alongside a failure to effectively implement the Prison Rape Elimination Act. These findings, released August 13, have prompted survivor advocates to demand comprehensive reforms and the release of individuals who have endured abuse within these facilities.