Prisoners’ spouses have right to sex
Mar 24, 2007
Kenya’s government has announced that it would amend the Prisons Act to grant married inmates conjugal rights.
Kenya’s government has announced that it would amend the Prisons Act to grant married inmates conjugal rights.
The US, Canada, Brazil and other countries have schemes for wives and children to stay overnight with prisoners in purpose-built accommodation units in the prison complex.
It is true that wrongdoers should be punished and that prisons should not be made comfortable for them. But while a person is sentenced for a crime, his partner has fertility rights and the right to reproduce. For example, a prison doctor last year arranged for convicted gang-rapist Peter McNamara’s partner to receive a sample sperm from him. McNamara was granted permission to attend the birth of his second son. He paid for his own prison escort to his partner’s bedside.
A visit by a legal partner of a prisoner is not only about sex but maintaining family relationships. It would help to keep the family unit intact by satisfying the wife’s natural desires.
Such visits would also reduce the incidence of sodomy and AIDS. In some countries like South Africa, men worry more about being raped by fellow inmates than their confinement in prison.
Distribution of condoms has been proposed in many countries as a means of curbing the spread of AIDS, but allowing prisoners to have sex with their legal partners is a better option.
Even in Zimbabwe, currently seen as a failing state, Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa last week proposed allowing prisoners conjugal visits as one measure to curb the spread of AIDS. What is required for the scheme to work in Uganda, as in Zimbabwe, is to improve the conditions in prisons.
The US, Canada, Brazil and other countries have schemes for wives and children to stay overnight with prisoners in purpose-built accommodation units in the prison complex.
It is true that wrongdoers should be punished and that prisons should not be made comfortable for them. But while a person is sentenced for a crime, his partner has fertility rights and the right to reproduce. For example, a prison doctor last year arranged for convicted gang-rapist Peter McNamara’s partner to receive a sample sperm from him. McNamara was granted permission to attend the birth of his second son. He paid for his own prison escort to his partner’s bedside.
A visit by a legal partner of a prisoner is not only about sex but maintaining family relationships. It would help to keep the family unit intact by satisfying the wife’s natural desires.
Such visits would also reduce the incidence of sodomy and AIDS. In some countries like South Africa, men worry more about being raped by fellow inmates than their confinement in prison.
Distribution of condoms has been proposed in many countries as a means of curbing the spread of AIDS, but allowing prisoners to have sex with their legal partners is a better option.
Even in Zimbabwe, currently seen as a failing state, Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa last week proposed allowing prisoners conjugal visits as one measure to curb the spread of AIDS. What is required for the scheme to work in Uganda, as in Zimbabwe, is to improve the conditions in prisons.