Decades of child sexual violence and rape at Illinois juvenile detention centers in Illinois , USA

Child sexual violence at Illinois juvenile detention centers was pervasive and systemic for decades, according to disturbing accounts in a lawsuit filed Monday by 95 men and women housed at the youth centers as children.

The lawsuit details alleged incidents of abuse from 1996 to 2017, including gang rape, forced oral sex, beatings and groping of children by corrections officers, sergeants, nurses, therapists, a chaplain and others at nine youth centers. Many plaintiffs said they were threatened or rewarded to keep quiet.

Sexual violence in US prison system

Sexual abuse and other forms of violence endured by inmates in US prisons is well documented although much of it goes unreported. Sexual violence in prison, including the rape of inmates in prison by other inmates or prison staff has been documented by independent organizations and government investigators for many decades by has not been addressed, making it one of the most persistent systemic human rights abuse in the United States.

In 2001, Human Rights Watch estimated that at least 4.3 million inmates had been raped while incarcerated in the United States.

 A United States Department of Justice report, Sexual Victimization in Prisons and Jails Reported by Inmates, states that "In 2011–12, an estimated 4.0% of state and federal prison inmates and 3.2% of jail inmates reported experiencing one or more incidents of sexual victimization by another inmate or facility staff in the past 12 months or since admission to the facility, if less than 12 months."

 However, advocates dispute the accuracy of the numbers, saying they seem to under-report the real numbers of sexual assaults in prison, especially among juveniles.