Lilith
03-27-2005, 06:31 PM
(submitted by gekkogecko)
Reuters
By Gershwin Wanneburg
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's jails watchdog
and prison officials have locked horns in a public row
over proposals to allow consensual sex behind bars.
The Department of Correctional Services says criminals
have no right to demand sex, but the Judicial
Inspectorate of Prisons (JIP) said in a report this
week that sex between inmates was a basic right and
could help root out widespread rape and sexual abuse
in the country's prisons.
The report followed a complaint by two male prisoners
who were charged with misconduct by authorities after
they were caught having sex.
They appealed to the JIP -- which oversees the
Department of Correctional Services -- who ruled in
their favor.
JIP attorney Umesh Raga said there were many
advantages to the body's proposal.
"It might allow them (prisoners), like in the rest of
society where gays and lesbians can now only openly
talk about it ... to come out into the open. Then one
can differentiate between those cases where there is
consensual and coercive sex," Raga told Reuters.
He said it might also eliminate the stigma around
homosexual sex -- a strict taboo in much of South
Africa, like in many parts of the continent, despite
having one of the world's most gay-friendly
constitutions.
"(In) our country, in our society, wherever people
express themselves ... it breaks down stigmatization.
It allows a proper debate to take place," he added.
Analysts say the line between consensual sex and rape
is vague in prison, where sexual favors are routinely
exchanged for food, cigarettes and other sought-after
items.
But they agree that it might help reduce widespread
rape and the spread of AIDS (news - web sites) -- a
national problem that has spilled over into the
nation's overcrowded prisons.
South Africa has the world's biggest HIV (news - web
sites)/AIDS caseload, with more than 5 million people
infected with the virus.
"The pros are that it allows for transparency around
safe sex. Prisoners can then talk to social workers
about having safe sex," Rukia Cornelius of the AIDS
lobby group Treatment Action Campaign told Reuters
Thursday.
But the government insists that sex is a right that
should be denied to prisoners. Correctional Services
spokesman Manelisi Wolela said the department had yet
to study the report but had a clear view on the issue.
"We believe it cannot be claimed as a right by people
who have been sentenced because what actually happens
when you are sentenced (is) there are certain rights
and privileges which you lose as a normal law abiding
citizen," he said.
Reuters
By Gershwin Wanneburg
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's jails watchdog
and prison officials have locked horns in a public row
over proposals to allow consensual sex behind bars.
The Department of Correctional Services says criminals
have no right to demand sex, but the Judicial
Inspectorate of Prisons (JIP) said in a report this
week that sex between inmates was a basic right and
could help root out widespread rape and sexual abuse
in the country's prisons.
The report followed a complaint by two male prisoners
who were charged with misconduct by authorities after
they were caught having sex.
They appealed to the JIP -- which oversees the
Department of Correctional Services -- who ruled in
their favor.
JIP attorney Umesh Raga said there were many
advantages to the body's proposal.
"It might allow them (prisoners), like in the rest of
society where gays and lesbians can now only openly
talk about it ... to come out into the open. Then one
can differentiate between those cases where there is
consensual and coercive sex," Raga told Reuters.
He said it might also eliminate the stigma around
homosexual sex -- a strict taboo in much of South
Africa, like in many parts of the continent, despite
having one of the world's most gay-friendly
constitutions.
"(In) our country, in our society, wherever people
express themselves ... it breaks down stigmatization.
It allows a proper debate to take place," he added.
Analysts say the line between consensual sex and rape
is vague in prison, where sexual favors are routinely
exchanged for food, cigarettes and other sought-after
items.
But they agree that it might help reduce widespread
rape and the spread of AIDS (news - web sites) -- a
national problem that has spilled over into the
nation's overcrowded prisons.
South Africa has the world's biggest HIV (news - web
sites)/AIDS caseload, with more than 5 million people
infected with the virus.
"The pros are that it allows for transparency around
safe sex. Prisoners can then talk to social workers
about having safe sex," Rukia Cornelius of the AIDS
lobby group Treatment Action Campaign told Reuters
Thursday.
But the government insists that sex is a right that
should be denied to prisoners. Correctional Services
spokesman Manelisi Wolela said the department had yet
to study the report but had a clear view on the issue.
"We believe it cannot be claimed as a right by people
who have been sentenced because what actually happens
when you are sentenced (is) there are certain rights
and privileges which you lose as a normal law abiding
citizen," he said.